GRAIN HARVESTERS 



219 



IMPLEMENTS FOR SMALL GRAIN CROPS 



Grain drills put the seed in the ground much better than the 

 broadcast methods of planting. Less seed is required per acre to 

 make a good stand. There are several types of grain drills, dif- 

 fering chiefly in their methods of making the small trenches or 

 furrows in which the grain is drilled. Some do this by means of 

 one or two disks for each furrow. Others open the furrow with a 

 ' 'shoe," and others with a shovel. 

 Drills vary also in the distance 

 between rows, the common dis- 

 tance being four to seven inches. 

 The number of drills and the 

 width of a machine depend 

 upon the choice of the pur- 

 chaser. Some grain drills have 

 a fertilizer attachment and also 

 a box from which grass seed is 

 drilled at the same time that 

 grain is drilled. 



Grain Harvesters. The 

 small grains and rice are almost 

 universally harvested with self- 

 binding machines. These ma- 

 chines cut the grain, bind it in 

 bundles of convenient size and 

 drop the bundles, several in one 

 place, ready to be put into 

 shocks. The use of self-binders 

 in the grain belt is very common. process oil meal; n> Qew _ p ~ rocess oil - meal 



Each grower USUally has his In case of the former, the meal stirred in 



J water remains in suspension on standing, 



OWn machine as the time Of while the new-process meal soon settles so as 



,..,11, to leave a clear yellowish solution on top, 



harvesting IS Very limited, but only about half the quantity of water added 



two who own the same machine being abs< 



may be able to use it at different times if different kinds of grain 

 are grown or if there is a variation in the type of soil, so that the 

 ripening is not simultaneous. Some farmers are willing to harvest 

 the grain at a much earlier stage than others. Indeed, cutting may 

 begin as soon as the grain is passed the "dough" stage and just 

 begins to harden. For fear of shrinkage at this time, many farm- 

 ers delay the cutting even until some of it begins to shatter. 



FlG 



The swelu ' n g test. I, old- 



