COST OF HARVESTING WHEAT. 



11 



seems great enough to warrant careful consideration of these outfits 



on the part of many wheat growers who would have use for such an 



engine in other wavs. 



SHOCKING. 



The practice of shocking wheat after being cut with a binder is 

 almost universal. It is occasionally possible to thrash wheat imme- 

 diately after being cut with a binder, the bundles being loaded di- 

 rectly on to the wagons from the piles left by the binder, but this 

 is not common, partly because the wheat may not be fit to thrash and 

 partly because a thrashing outfit is not available when needed. 



Hauling bundles to the stack without shocking is also practiced 

 to some extent, and where this can be done a saving of about 1 cent 

 per bushel is effected ; but in the majority of cases the wheat is placed 

 in some kind of shocks before being stacked or thrashed. 



The cost of shocking wheat varies with the yield, condition of the 

 bundles, size of machine used in cutting, and the amount of carrying 

 done by the binder. The character of the shocks also will have some 

 effect, although it takes practically as long to build a poor shock as 

 a good one. 



The average acres shocked per day by one man, tabulated accord- 

 ing to yield per acre, are shown in Table VI. It will be seen that 

 the acres shocked per day in the two groups having yields of over 

 20 bushels are disproportionately less than in the two groups with 

 yields of 20 bushels or under. This seeming irregularity is accounted 

 for by the fact that a large percentage of the reports on low yields 

 come from sections having a large acreage and light straw. The 

 average cost of about 1 cent per bushel as shown in Table VI is> 

 therefore, approximately correct. On account of the relatively small 

 cost of shocking compared with the protection it affords, many men 

 shock their wheat even if it is to remain in the field but a very short 

 time. 



Table VI. — Acres shocked per day per man and cost per acre and per 'bushel in 

 relation to yield per acre. (Based on labor at $2 per day, 26.'/ reports.) 



Yield per acre. 



Under 20 bushels . . . 



20 bushels i 



21 to 30 bushels 



31 bushels and over. 



Average 



yield 

 per acre. 



Acres 

 shocked 

 per day 

 per man. 



Cost per 

 acre. 



15 

 20 

 26.2 

 37.4 



124 

 12" 

 8f 



SO. 16 

 .164 

 .23" 

 . 264 



Cost per 

 bushel. 



3.01 



.008 

 .009 

 .007 



1 A number of men reported their yield as 20 bushels per acre, and it was deemed advisable to Leave 

 these estimates in one group. 



COMPARISON OF COSTS— OLD METHODS VS. NEW. 



It is very interesting to compare the costs of cutting wheat as it 

 is usually done to-day with the methods in use 75 years ago. It is 

 very generally believed that modern methods always result in greatly 



