14 



The World's Commercial Products 



conducts these bundles to the spot where men are building the straw-rick, or a strong 

 current of air blows the straw to the top of the rick. 



In North and South America, Australia, and Russia, where the value of the straw is very 

 small, the engines with which the threshers are worked are fed with it. 



Some years ago fears were expressed that in the course of a comparatively short time, if 

 the present rapid increase in the wheat-eating people of the world continued without being 

 counterbalanced by the opening up of new wheat fields, or of an increased yield from the 

 existing fields, a wheat famine would ensue. One way of increasing the area under wheat 

 would be by bringing into cultivation lands which do not appear at first sight suited to this 

 crop, such as, for example, the immense tract of country known as the Great Plains region 

 of the United States of America. The rainfall in this region is usually low, perhaps about 

 twelve inches, and irregular, and this, combined with great heat, makes the conditions unsuited 

 to many ordinary crops, and bad harvests often result. Much of this land would give excellent 

 yields if it could be irrigated. This, however, is in many cases absolutely impossible, or if 



possible the results would not justify the 

 expense. 



It has been observed for some time that some 

 of the farmers could get -good crops, whatever 

 the season, and, in particular, Russian farmers 

 were very successful. This was due to the 

 training they had had in fighting against the 

 cold winters and dry summers of their native 

 lands. Much of the valuable Russian hard 

 wheat is produced, in localities where the 

 temperature ranges from extreme heat to 

 extreme cold, and the rainfall is low, perhaps 

 twelve to fifteen inches, or even less. 



The Russian farmers brought with them 

 their stock of knowledge, and by adapting 

 their methods to the conditions prevailing in 

 the Great Plains were able to obtain good 

 results, often when the crops of their neigh- 

 bours cultivated on similar soil and under the 

 same climatic conditions were ruined. Con- 

 siderable attention is now being given in the United States to these regions, and " Dry 

 Farming " or " Cultivation in Semi-arid Regions " is much to the fore. It is not altogether 

 novel, but rather the adaptation to American conditions of plants and methods successfully 

 employed for a long period in the hard climates of parts of Russia, such as Astrakhan, the 

 Crimea, Turkestan, etc. 



The best kinds of wheat for these dry regions are the " hard wheats," which are extremely 

 resistant to drought. Ghirka wheat largely exported from the Volga region of Russia is a 

 good red spring wheat of- this class. Another Russian wheat from the Crimea, has, under the 

 name of " Turkey wheat," been cultivated for some twenty-five years in Kansas and other 

 states, and has caused a large increase in the wheat area as it can be grown in places where 

 the severity of the winter rendered wheat culture impossible "with ordinary varieties. Still 

 hardier varieties will allow cultivation to be even more widely extended, and steps are being 

 taken to introduce such into the States. Kharkoo winter wheat is regarded as one of the 

 hardiest kinds and likely to withstand the winters of South Dakota and Minnesota. 



For resistance to drought as opposed to cold the hardiest wheats are the macaroni wheats, 

 which thrive in eastern Russia, Turkestan, and Algeria under conditions which Mr. A. M. 

 Carleton, who has investigated them, calls arid rather than semi-arid. These macaroni wheats 



A SIMPLE WINNOWING AND SIFTING MACHINE 



