190 ECONOMIC PLANTS 



and the bundles of grain are hauled directly to the 

 machine for threshing. The sweating process must 

 then take place in the bin. Frequent shovelings are 

 often necessary to prevent the moist grain from getting 

 very hot. 



Note. On the large farms in the western part of the United 

 States, a machine called the header is used. This cuts off the heads of 

 the grain, letting the straw remain standing. The heads are carried 

 into the machine and are there directly threshed. This is a large ma- 

 chine, a harvester and thresher in one, and requires a great number of 

 horses to pull it. 



Weight and Yield of Wheat. Sixty pounds is the 

 standard weight for a bushel of wheat. If it is lighter 

 than this standard, its quality is reduced. The harder 

 and heavier wheat gives the best quality of flour and 

 brings the highest price in the market. 



The average yield of wheat in this country is 14 

 bushels to the acre. In the northern states 20 bushels 

 is considered a good fair yield, but many farmers are able 

 to secure from 30 to 40 bushels to the acre. 



Corn. The United States is the great corn-grow- 

 ing country of the world, four fifths of all her farmers 

 being engaged in the industry with a yield that is greater 

 than all the other countries put together and fifteen 

 times that of Argentina, which ranks second. The 

 annual crop is over 2,500,000,000 bushels, which would 

 furnish each man, woman, and child in the country with 

 25 bushels. Its double use as food for man and beast 

 keeps the demand commensurate with the supply or 

 even beyond it. 



Note. If the corn crop of the United States for 1 906 had 

 been placed in wagons, 50 bushels to a load, and 20 feet of space 



