A Good Harvest 



to join the gang. We found twelve men and 

 seven teams, without the farmer's own, which 

 would be used to haul the grain from the 

 threshing machine to the granary. The first day 

 there was naturally some- little delay till men 

 and teams began to get into the swing, but it 

 soon went better, and the rapidity with which 

 the great stretches were cleared of shocks and the 

 quantity of grain threshed was prodigious. The 

 work was very hard, and, beginning as early as 

 seven, often extended well into the darkness of 

 the now rapidly shortening days. Though the 

 Western separator may not clean grain with the 

 perfection of the British threshing machine, it 

 is a wonderful example of efficiency in labour 

 saving and capacity of output. A sheaf-carrier 

 carries the sheaves along as they are tossed by 

 the men from the loads on each side, and the 

 band-cutter cuts the twine, while the wind- 

 stacker blows the threshed straw on to a stack 

 that grows as high as a small church. 



The high bagging mechanism raises the grain 

 so that it runs down a spout into the waiting 

 wagon in bulk, whence it is hauled to the 

 granary, or if near the railroad it may be to 

 the elevator direct. This outfit was well organ- 

 ized, and had a caboose and cook to prepare 

 the meals, and as most of the men were neigh- 



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