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 ways. 
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 1s 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, 264 reports.) 
Acres 
Average wR 
tf shocked Cost per Cost per 
Pee erence: Dears per day acre. bushel. 
anh) s\a per mane: 
AO/DYG LENE 240) |OVBIST OVENS) A NS rR ee Na 15 124 $0. 16 $0. OL 
4h) |SESWCONS Bon a4 oe Pa sedonbeo’sdekQeonoaocseh Sone oros neeE 20 12 . 164 . 008 
Pl GO GO) (DOSES E Ge oe GAs Geena aes Ae Balt oye 26. 2 83 122 009 
SIL SV TGIONDIS ne NG LO) VG) eR ee SESS Pe te Peace eae 37.4 1% . 264 007 
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 | 
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