HARVEST LABOR PROBLEMS IX WHEAT BELT. 
13 
counties just before the harvest of the late wheal began, while grass- 
hoppers invaded three or four of the northern counties at about the 
same time. 
Table 5. 
■Cause and extent of annual crop losses of wheat in Worth Dakota, 
South Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma? 
North Dakota. 
South Dakota. 
Year. 
Climatic conditions. 
Insects, 
plant dis- 
ease, etc. 3 
Total. 
Climatic conditions. 
Insects, 
plant dis- 
ease, etc. 3 
Drought, 
hot winds. 
Other.2 
Drought, 
hot winds. 
Other. 2 
Total. 
1919 
1918 
1917 
1916 
1915 
1914 
1913 
1912 
1911 
1910 
1909 
Per cent. 
30.3 
28.8 
50.0 
9.3 
.8 
16.6 
30.4 
3.7 
37.2 
62.7 
7.8 
Per cent. 
4.3 
7.2 
4.4 
9.2 
4.0 
6.1 
2.6 
10.5 
6.1 
3.0 
7.8 
Per cent. 
28.5 
4.1 
1.6 
49.5 
6.4 
9.5 
3.3 
2.0 
10.9 
1.5 
4.0 
Per cent. 
63.1 
40.1 
56.0 
68.0 
11.2 
32.2 
36.3 
16.2 
54.2 
67.2 
19.6 
Per cent. 
17.8 
3.6 
16.2 
10.3 
.1 
26.8 
34.1 
25.3 
, 67.5 
26.9 
7.3 
Per cent. 
4.5 
2.9 
4.0 
5.0 
5.4 
5.6 
1.9 
5.1 
.3 
1.5 
9.9 
Per cent. 
30.7 
3.0 
2.8 
38.9 
6.8 
14.5 
1.9 
4.4 
2.2 
2.3 
3.3 
Per cent. 
53. 
9.5 
23.0 
54.2 
12.3 
46.7 
37.9 
34. 8 
70.0 
30.7 
20.5 
Kansas. 
Oklahoma. 
1919 
1918 
1917 
1916 
1915 
1914 
1913 
1912 
1911 
1910 
1909 
5.0 
22.9 
27.3 
9.9 
.4 
3.0 
25.1 
14.8 
40.5 
18.4 
10.4 
18.3 
4.4 
17.3 
13.1 
29.9 
1.4 
1.2 
9.9 
1.4 
24.7 
14.5 
13.6 
1.4 
1.1 
12.1 
9.3 
3.3 
8.8 
6.7 
3.7 
4.9 
5.2 
31.9 
28.7 
45.7 
35.1 
39.6 
7.7 
35.1 
31.4 
45.6 
48.0 
• 30.1 
1.3 
33.5 
31.0 
20.9 
.2 
6.3 
30.7 
19.3 
57.9 
17.1 
21.4 
12.7 
4.5 
3.3 
9.6 
24.8 
2.3 
2.1 
4.6 
1.2 
2.2 
7.3 
11.0 
4.3 
. 1.7 
9.4 
6.6 
3.7 
7.9 
7.9 
6.7 
3.9 
4.5 
25.0 
42.3 
36.0 
39.9 
31.6 
12.3 
40.7 
31.8 
65.8 
23.2 
33.2 
1 Data furnished by Bureau of Crop Estimates, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
2 Includes floods, frost, hail, storms, and winter kill. 
3 Includes defective seeds and unknown causes. 
CONCENTRATION OF THRASHING DEMAND. 
Although farmers may exercise more control over the time of 
thrashing than over the date of cutting, certain factors, alone or in 
combination, often give rise to more acute concentration of the labor 
demand in thrashing than in harvesting. 
As the unthrashed bundles represent his year's earnings, the farmer 
is eager to know how much grain they contain. The farmer in the 
northern States also fears the coming of bad fall weather before 
thrashing is finished, and is anxious to get the summer work out 
of the way so that the fall plowing may be done early enough to 
permit the weed seeds to sprout before cold weather which kills them. 
Another important factor is the need for skilled laborers, such as 
separator and engine men, not required during the harvest. Conse- 
quently the demand for thrashing labor is very intense for a short- 
time and then dies aw T ay. A large number of men are required for 
