WHEAT 59 



Wheat is best cut and tied by the self-binder. It should 

 be promptly shocked and capped. Some farmers thresh 

 from the shock a few weeks after harvest, but it is safer to 

 place the sheaf-wheat in stack or barn until ready to 

 thresh. Threshing is usually done by threshing crews 

 that travel from farm to farm. 



63. When to cut wheat for hay. Wheat for hay is 

 probably best cut when in the " late milk stage," but if 

 rust is absent, mowing may be deferred until the grain is in 

 the " early dough " stage. If rust promises to be severe, 

 wheat may be mown while still in bloom. 

 64. Yields and prices. The legal weight of a bushel 

 of wheat is 60 pounds. A measured bushel may weigh a 

 few pounds above or below this weight. The heavier a 

 bushel of wheat, the better is the quality. The average 

 yield of wheat in the entire United States for the ten-year 

 period ending in 1906 was 13.8 bushels per acre. The 

 average of the cotton states is considerably below this 

 figure ; but individual farmers in the cotton states some- 

 times produce an average of more than 20 bushels per acre. 

 The usual price of wheat is from 80 cents to $1.20 per 

 bushel. 



ENEMIES 



65. Weeds. Numerous weeds grow in wheat fields, 

 either because the seeds were sown as impurities in the 

 seed wheat, or because the weed seeds were already in the 

 ground. Among the most important of these are the fol- 

 lowing : 



Cheat or chess. A winter-growing annual grass liable 

 to be troublesome in all kinds of grain. It is most abun- 



