ECONOMIC PLANTS 189 



As soon after plowing as practicable the surface 

 should be harrowed and made as fine as possible. Then 

 the grain is sown broadcast or it is drilled in. If it is 

 sown broadcast, another harrowing should be given to 

 cover the grain. 



There are some advantages in the use of a drill. 

 This machine plants the grain at a uniform depth and 

 covers it at one operation. The plants germinate and 

 grow to maturity more uniformly than with broadcast 

 seeding. There is also a saving of one to two pecks o\ 

 seed wheat to the acre. 



For the sake of conserving soil moisture, some good 

 farmers harrow the wheat after it has sprouted and has 

 grown an inch or two in height. A few plants may be 

 destroyed, but the gain to the crop far outweighs the 

 slight loss. 



Harvesting. --The proper time for harvesting wheat 

 is indicated by the straw turning to a yellow color. 

 It is not best to wait till the wheat is dead ripe, as many 

 of the kernels fall out of the chaff and are lost in the 

 operations of cutting, shocking, and stacking. When 

 the kernel of wheat has passed the soft milk and dough 

 stage, but is still soft enough to be indented by the 

 thumb nail, the grain is in just the proper degree of 

 ripeness to harvest. 



The self-binder is used in most parts of the United 

 States. This cuts and binds the wheat into bundles. 

 They are then put into shocks properly capped until 

 they may be built into stacks at the place where the 

 threshing is to be done. It takes from one to two weeks 

 for the grain in the stack to lose the extra amount of 

 moisture that it contains, that is, it is said to go through 

 the sweat process. Very often the stacking is omitted 



