WHEAT 133 



The Header. Hundreds of years later men began 

 to make macliines witli tlie power in front. This 

 method with horse power meant a side-cut. The 

 wheat-header is a machine that cuts off the heads 

 and throws them into a wagoij that is driven along- 

 side. It saves binding and shocking. Wheat must 

 be dry before it is cut in this way, for the grain is 

 either stacked or threshed at once without time for 

 curing. If it be damp, green, or weedy, it will not 

 thresh well and is liable to spoil in the stack. The 

 header is .chiefly used in dry countries. The header 

 of to-day cuts a strip twelve to twenty feet wide. 

 In the state of Washington three headers and one 

 threshing machine usually work together on the 

 mammoth farms. In this way from fifty to seventy- 

 five acres of wheat are harvested in one day. 



The Reaper. Another machine has been worked 

 out to harvest the wheat where the header is not 

 successful. A machine was developed that would 

 cut and bunch the grain. This was called the reaper 

 (Fig. 73). McCormick's machine was first used in 

 the harvest of 1831. It was a rather crude affair, 

 drawn by one horse, but it was a good beginning. 

 It meant cheap bread for mankind, but the farmers 

 at first refused to use the reaper. They laughed at 

 it; they said it would not work on hillsides. But 

 they sat on the fence and watched it. Then they 

 shook their heads and went back to their old cradles. 

 McCormick talked and urged the people to try it, 

 but it was ten years after the machine proved itself 



