34 
BULLETIN 917, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
from the shock. It is not often that much damage is done by rain 
to the grain in the shock. The thrashing crew consists of an engineer, 
separator boss, water-wagon man and team, four pitchers, and 
usually eight men, teams, wagons to haul the shocked grain to the 
thrasher, and two men to sack the grain and sew the sacks. Usually 
the thrashing crew is not boarded at the farm house. (Fig. 25.) 
The farmer has to receive the grain when sacked, pile it back from 
the machine, and haul it to the bin. Some farmers haul the grain 
directly from the field to the elevator or shipping point. In these 
districts the ground is usually dry and firm at harvest time, and 
cutting the crop is attended with little difficulty. One man and 
three horses constitute the most common crew, covering 8 to 10 
acres per 10-hour day. 
-_' it£S&mm, 
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Fig. 28.— Cutting beans. 
Wheat harvest begins about July 10 at Rocky Ford and extends 
to July 20, oats being cut from July 15 to 25. At Fort Morgan and 
Greeley wheat and barley are harvested from July 10 to 25 and oats 
from July 15 to August 1. Thrashing for grains that are not stacked 
begins about August 15 in these districts, but for stacked grains no 
thrashing is done until about September 15. The thrashing of 
stacked or unshocked grains is usually completed before October 1, 
as the beet and potato harvest begins about this date, and the cost 
of getting men and teams for thrashing is then greater; moreover, 
the farmer does not wish to do thrashing during beet-harvest time. 
(Figs. 26 and 27.) 
The stacking of grain, which may begin a few days after it is cut, 
is mostly done from August 1 to 15. 
Bean harvesting begins about September 1 and continues until 
October 1. It is done with 2-horse bean cutters. As the beans 
are cut the plants slide off the end of the knife and to the row center 
