WHEAT — CUL'TUBAL METHODS 331 



hoe; (2) disk-drill^, and (3) drills with runners or shoes 

 known as shoe-drills. The hoe-drills, while operating un- 

 der possibly a larger number of conditions than the other 

 types, are heavy of draft and clog easily on filthy land. 

 The disk-drill is preferable to other types where the land 

 contains much litter. Most drills are equipped with fer- 

 tilizer attachments, and attachments for sowing grass or 

 clover seed can be purchased if desired. 



406. Cultivating wheat. — Wheat is often harrowed 

 with an adjustable spike-tooth harrow or weeder in the 

 early spring before the booting stage. This practice is 

 especially beneficial on stiff soils that are deficient in vege- 

 table matter. Drilled wheat is more satisfactorily har- 

 rowed than broadcast wheat; 'The practice of ]planting 

 wheat in wide drills and cultivating it much as we culti- 

 vate corn has been advocated by a few farmers, but has 

 never become common in this country. 



407. Pasturing wheat. — Wheat, like oats, furnishes 

 excellent winter pasture for almost, all kinds of live-stock. 

 The precautions to be observed in pasturing wheat are 

 the same as for oats, paragraph 360. 



HARVESTING WHEAT 



408. Methods. — The methods of harvesting, thrash-^ 

 ing, and storing wheat are similar to those of oats. In 

 the greater part of the cotton-belt and throughout the 

 entire eastern United States, the self-binder is largely 

 used for cutting the crop. In the Great Plains area west 

 of the Mississippi River both self-binders and headers are 

 used, the latter machines being used principally in the 

 western sections of Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. 

 The combined harvester and thrasher, which cuts, 

 thrashes, and sacks the grain in one operation, is very 



