142 



FIELD CROPS 



HARVESTING AND THRESHING 

 182. Harvesting. With the exception of a considerable 

 acreage in the Pacific states, wheat is harvested as soon as 

 it is ripe, to avoid loss by crinkling and shattering and from 

 storms. East of the Great Plains grain is usually cut with 

 the binder and handled in the bundle. Headers (machines 



Figure 50. —Cutting wheat with binders on a North Dakota farm. Note the 

 rape in the wheat stubble in the foreground. After harvest, sheep are 

 turned into the field to pasture on the rape and the gleanings. 



that cut off the heads of the standing wheat and elevate 

 them into wagon boxes driven alongside) are used in the 

 western Great Plains area and to some extent west of the 

 Rocky Mountains. In the Pacific states, where there is no 

 rain for several weeks during the harvest season, the grain 

 is allowed to become thoroughly ripe and dry and is then 

 harvested with a combined harvester and thresher, or "com- 

 bine" (Figure 59). Such machines cannot be used east of 

 the Great Plains area, on account of the unfavorable weather. 

 183. Shocking Wheat. One of the qualities desired in 

 good milling wheat is bright color. If wheat is exposed 



