340 Wheat Growing in the Pacific States. 



No further attention is paid to the field until it is time to cut 

 the hay or harvest the crop of wheat. On the larger farms 

 ploughing and reploughing is frequently done by large 

 gangs of ploughs or discs, drawn by a traction engine. 



The period of growth for crops in California is during the 

 winter season, and the months in which the crop ordinarily 

 grows in the eastern States are in this region the months of 

 suspended animation. There is a long, mild winter, during- 

 which the plant has ample chance to grow, and the plant is 

 practically mature before the hot sun of June has an oppor- 

 tunity of doing more than adding the final touches to the 

 ripening and drying of the grain. It is this peculiar hot 

 drying effect of June and July which makes it possible to use 

 the combined harvester and thresher, which could not be used 

 successfully on a grain which was not perfectly dry as well 

 as ripe. 



Probably two-thirds of the entire wheat crop of California 

 is gathered with the combined harvester-thresher. The great 

 level fields of the central valley favour the use of the most 

 ponderous machinery. The machine sweeps through miles 

 of grain, cutting swaths from 16 to 42 feet in width, and 

 leaving behind a long trail of sacked wheat ready to be 

 hauled to the warehouse, railroad, or mill. This combined 

 harvester and thresher is usually drawn by twenty-four to 

 forty horses, and sacks from 25 to 45 acres of wheat per day r 

 with four men to operate it ; and larger machines will do even 

 more. By its use the grain is threshed directly from the 

 field and left piled in sacks containing about 2% bushels each. 

 They are left in the field sometimes for weeks without fear of 

 material damage from the weather. 



In Oregon there are two chief centres of wheat growing- : 

 the Willamette Valley, running along the west side of the 

 Cascade Mountains, and the north-eastern section, which 

 adjoins the richest part of Washington, and where farming 

 conditions are similar to those in the east of Washington. In 

 the Willamette Valley the system of farming resembles more 

 the methods on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Ploughing is generally deeper, with ploughs set in gangs of 

 two. The seed is drilled in, instead of being broadcasted as 



