234 DRY LAND FARMING 



of being whipped about by the winds after reaching ma- 

 turity may be material. Such loss is increased by the 

 plumpness of the grain, which favors loss from the source 

 named. The more plump the grain, the more readily does 

 it shell. Wheat is ready for being harvested when the 

 stem has turned yellow for a few inches below the head. 

 The culms will at the same time have assumed a yellow 

 tint for several inches from the ground upward, not- 

 withstanding that the other portion of the stem may be 

 still green. A few days delay in cutting may result in 

 very serious loss through shelling, but this does not 

 apply to the club or square-head varieties. 



Except when grown in very large areas, wheat is 

 harvested with the grain binder, stood up more com- 

 monly in round rather than in oblong shocks, and 

 threshed from the shock. In dry areas wheat is not com- 

 monly stacked, as rains during the harvest season are 

 almost unknown. Shocks well made will usually stand 

 for several weeks without injury, save what may come 

 through birds and rodents. 



When grown in a large way in the dry west, wheat 

 is harvested, in many instances, by the aid of the header. 

 This machine cuts off and gathers the heads without re- 

 moving the straw. The heads are thrown into heaps 

 until they can be threshed. Should rain fall before the 

 time of threshing, the grain may be seriously damaged, 

 but this very seldom happens. This method of harvest- 

 ing, which is relatively cheap and very expeditious, is al- 

 most universal where the club varieties of grain are 

 grown in a large way. But when the grain is very short 

 it may leave many heads ungathered. 



Where very large areas are grown, the crop is some- 

 times harvested by using the combined header and 

 thresher. This machine, which is, in some instances, 

 drawn by 25 to 30 head of horses or mules, or both, 

 heads the grain and threshes it in the one operation. It 



