No. 4205. 
NEW YORK, MAY 
1013. 
WEEKLY 
$ 1.00 
PER 
begin cutting while it is yet somewhat, but riot every. 
It will even then be necessary, i 
green. 
to 
hx 
it 
be 
Yol. LXXII 
[HARVESTING THE WHEAT. 
L Time to Make a Stack. 
Pakt I. 
WHEN TO CUT.—If we had any way of knowing 
the extent of the loss, avoidable and unavoidable, 
with which our wheat harvesting is conducted, the 
greatness of it would be a surprise to most of us. 
The grain is often cut too green or too ripe, the 
best binder will not get every stalk, birds devour 
much of it, shocks often fall over, caps blow off, and 
the grain often grows in the shock if the weather 
is wet. These things and others are sources of loss 
in harvesting wheat. Some of them cannot he over¬ 
come by any practical procedure. Others can be 
overcome, at least partially, by proper attention to 
details. The best time to cut is when the quantity 
and quality of the grain is at its maximum. This 
condition occurs just when the wheat is ripe. If it 
were possible to cut it just at this time, the prob- 
ripens at the usual rate, to cut a cousidfertfpde puj*» a\ 
of it in the dead-ripe condition. ^ ^ 
SHOCKING.—A great deal of care s 
YEAR. 
as well to set three or four more sheaves around 
l^iYhock where they seem to fit best. If the shock 
l^shock w 
^ stage should be found to be twisting around, 
it ifljould be torn down and built over, as it will 
be-^jneyilii 
taken in the shocking. A good many farmer! 
realize the importance of attention to det\il 
setting up a shock of wheat; and consequei 
shocks often go down, or the cap sheaves blow o: 
thus causing loss and damage to the wheat, at best 
entailing the loss of time incident to resetting or 
fixing up shocks. This is especially true of shocks 
which are made from dead ripe wheat. Such wheat 
is the most difficult of any to shock. There are 
three or four things which a shock should do for 
the wheat. These are: (1) To allow it to cure; 
(2) to protect it from dampness; and (3) to pro¬ 
tect it from the sunshine. The first of these could 
well be accomplished without shocking, but all 
three at once cannot. The protection from the 
^nesvtiaibly go down; and 
over, as 
after it has 
8-f‘set” will take twice as much time, or even 
r r5£ Otherwise you can proceed to the capping. 
CAPPING THE SHOCK.—There is a good deal of 
ussion among practical farmers as to the best 
way to cap a shock of wheat. The chief point on 
which they differ is as to whether two cap sheaves 
should be used, or only one. Those in favor of only 
one cap sheaf argue that this method of capping 
allows better aeration and quicker drying if the 
shock becomes wet, as will inevitably happen some¬ 
times. Furthermore, it takes less labor, as only one 
sheaf has to be “broken.” The adherents of the two- 
sheaf system claim that the two cap sheaves do not 
hinder aeration and curing to a noticeable extent, 
and that although a shock with only one cap will 
Fig. 237. 
^53*' 'V- 
siSsssiyiE ..4* & 
A DELAWARE BROOD MARE AND IIER TWIN COLTS 
(See Page 723.) 
lem would be easy of solution; but as, at best, this 
condition lasts but a few days, it is usually impos¬ 
sible to cut the entire crop in this condition. The 
question, then, to be settled is whether it is more 
profitable to cut part of the crop too green or to 
cut a part of it dead ripe. Wheat that is cut green 
usually shrivels and makes a flour which is poorer 
>u quality than that from ripe wheat. The yield 
is seriously decreased. On the other hand, wheat 
that is cut dead ripe is also decreased in yield, 
although not nearly so much as when cut green. The 
quality is affected very little or none at all. There 
uiay be some loss from shattering, the shocking is 
"uicli harder and more disagreeable to perform, and 
iue shocks much more frequently fall over or twist 
"ut of shape so as to expose the grain more to the 
u outlier. Experiments have shown that there is 
mudl more shrinkage from cutting wheat green than 
10111 cu tting it dead ripe. It would seem, there- 
° 10 ’ ,liat is not best to begin cutting wheat until 
ls ri P e > and cut part of it in the dead ripe condi¬ 
tion, if necessary. This advice is all right if the 
'P is small; but if it be large it is usually best to 
sunshine is of more importance than at first seems 
evident. The effect of sunshine is to bleach the 
wheat and injure its quality. In my experience the 
following method of setting up a shock has proved 
to be both convenient and satisfactory. It pro¬ 
duces a shock which protects the grain well and 
stands up well. First set up two sheaves, flat side 
together (most binders bind a sheaf which is not 
round, but flattened somewhat. Such a bundle is 
more convenient for handling than a round one). 
These sheaves, and in fact all sheaves which stand 
on the ground, should be set down, not necessarily 
“hard,” as is often advised, but squarely and firmly, 
so that but for their slight leaning they would 
stand alone. The next step is to set down one more 
at each end. l'ou now have four in a row. Set one 
in the middle on each side. You will find now at 
each of the four corners a space which looks as if it 
were made especially to accommodate a sheaf. Put 
one in each of these places. There are now 10 
sheaves on the ground; and we usually consider this 
enough, especially if the wheat is somewhat green, 
or full of green plants. If it be well ripened, it is 
dry out quicker after becoming wet, a shock with 
two cap sheaves will take much longer to get wet 
in the first place, so that on the whole, the shock 
with two cap sheaves keeps the drier. In addition, 
the labor difference is not so great as would at first 
seem likely, due to the fact that when only one 
sheaf is used, it must be very carefully broken and 
carefully placed on the shock in order to roof it well. 
My personal preference is for two cap sheaves to a 
shock. My chief reason for this is the greater roof¬ 
ing efficiency of the two sheaves over one. The ex¬ 
tent to which a cap sheaf will shed water depends 
in large measure on the slope of the straw. The 
first sheaf lies on top of the shock with the straw 
almost horizontal; but the second one, supported on 
the first, lies with the straw at a much more acute 
angle, and the butts can be given an acute angle 
also—a thing almost impossible in many cases with 
only one sheaf. The result is that such an arrange¬ 
ment makes a much more efficient roof than does a 
one-slieaf cap. 
THE KNACK OF FINISHING.—Having decided 
what method of capping to use, you are ready to 
