142 Effective Farming 



However, if the grain becomes wet in the shock, the yield of 

 good produce will be lessened. The grain must go through a 

 sweat, which may take place in the shock, stack, or mow, or in 

 the bin after the grain is threshed. The sweating causes heat 

 and if the heat becomes too intense the grain will char, or 

 blacken, thus destroying its quality. If the grain is placed 

 in stack or mow when it is wet or if many green weeds are 

 bound with it, excessive heating may occur. 



Threshed grain may be stored in any dry bin. If the 

 grain in bins becomes very hot, due to sweating, it should 

 be spread out to prevent charring. In the West, on account 

 of the dry climate, grain may be safely stored in sacks in the 

 field. 



65. Weeds of wheat fields. On account of the seeds get- 

 ting into the threshed grain and later into the flour, weeds in 

 wheat fields are especially undesirable. Among the trouble- 

 some weeds are chess, or cheat, darnel, cockle, wild garlic, 

 pigeon- weed, and wild mustard. Chess and darnel seed can be 

 removed from seed wheat by means of a fanning-mill. Cockle 

 seed are about the same size and weight as wheat grains and 

 for this reason are not readily separated by a fanning mill. 

 About the only way to combat this weed is to pass through the 

 field and pull up the plants when they are in blossom. The 

 flowers are pink, making the plants easily distinguishable. 

 Wild garlic and pigeon-weed are combated by planting infested 

 areas in some other crop for a few seasons. Wild mustard 

 seed is often found in seed wheat and, of course, such seed should 

 not be planted. When plants are found in the field they should 

 be pulled up ; they can be distinguished by their yellow, 

 four-petaled blossoms. Spraying the fields with a solution of 

 iron sulfate has in some instances been found effective in com- 

 bating mustard. The solution kills the mustard plants, but 

 not the wheat. The formula used is eighty pounds of iron 

 sulfate to forty gallons of water. This is spread at the rate of 

 fifty gallons to the acre. 



