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Show ' ' THE WHEAT BELT; Improvement in Harvesting. August Wolf. Twenty-two hundred and fifty combined com-bined harvesting machines, operated by steam, gasoline, Horses and mules, and 60,000 men were required to garner gar-ner the wheat crop, estimated at 60,-000,000 60,-000,000 bushels, in Washington, Oregon Ore-gon and Idaho, during the season just closed. The value of the crop is placed at from $45,000,000 to $50,000,-000. $50,000,-000. The machines cut about 50 per cent of the total yield -and on this it is estimated there was a saving of five cents a bushel and two bushels of waste grain the -acre, adding nearly $2,000,000 to the revenue of the producers. pro-ducers. The men were paid $6,000,000 in wages, the average cost of saving the crop being 10 cents a bushel, exclusive ex-clusive of bags and haulage to warehouses. ware-houses. The harvesters established a new record this year in saving the crop in the three states, as never before were the wheat belts stripped of their stands of grain in such time. The farmers far-mers had the most efficient help in years and at no time were they obliged to suspend or even curtail operations because of shortage. The average earning of each man was $100 for the season, and the average amount of grain harvested 'by him was 1000 bushels, while the average threshing crew of four men headed, stacked and threshed 2000 bushels a day. The av-cra av-cra yield was a little more than 20 bubhcls the acre, while individual fields report as high as 42 bushels. K'liichers in 1? counties in eastern Washington, including the Big Bend and the Palousc belts, harvested nearly near-ly 34,000,000 bushels. The crop was about normal in the Big Bend coun-. coun-. try, and in the Palousc country the average yield was nearly 35 bushels the acre, and most of it is hard and clean and of good milling grade, and while the crop is smaller than in. 1907, the bumper season in the history of the Northwest, the farmers have a greater net profit this season, as prices are better and it cost less to garner the crop. The bags in which the grain was marketed were also cheaper. The average price of wheat has not been under 75 cents and has been up to 83, and there are many wh believe it will re-ach the dollar mark before the end of the year.' A farm of 700 acres may be taken as a unit upon which to base calculations. calcu-lations. Under the ordinary methods meth-ods on a ranch of this size the labor of 16 men was required throughout the harvest season. The yield was 14,000 bushels. From this field the farmer received, at present prices, about $11,000. After paying his bills he will have a bank account left, and will lose no time in preparing to seed the land for a crop in 1909. The labor problem has been a serious ser-ious one with farmers all over the grain belt in recent years. The harvesters, har-vesters, coming from practically all parts of the continent, were shiftless, hard to manage, ready to quit work at the drop of a hat, and eager at all times to crowd wages up to the breaking break-ing point. On the other hand, employers em-ployers worked their help long hours, and the old adage of "you do not need blankets, get a lantern," while worn out, was founded in fact. The working hours were shorter, the conditions much better, the class of men more steadfast and conscientious conscien-tious and the feeling between them and the farmers were much more friendly. This condition was not brought about by the free employment employ-ment bureau, as was established last year, or by any other unusual conditions con-ditions except that these men have been less called for in the ordinary labor circles, and the harvest fields offered opportunities for high wages and a month or two of outdoor life. An clement entering into the labor problem this season was the' change in the method of harvesting grain generally over the Northwest. In fact, wheat harvesting has been subjected sub-jected to the most marked evolution of any of the modes of work on the farm. Following the sclf-raks reaper came the header and the self-binder. The large fields were handled readily with the header, but the loss of grain was considerable. During the financial finan-cial flurry in 1S93, a farmer of the name of George Dclancy, operating in the Walla Walla country, bought a combined harvester in n effort to save expense and secure all the, grain from his land. It was successful and did service until 1907, when it was relegated to the scrap pile. Fromi that time the. system of.. harvesting har-vesting changed r.apidly, and today there are 2250 cpmbined harvesters in operation in Washington, Oregon K and Idaho, and there are some in m Montana and British Columbia. With H a combined machine four men will ml cut 700 acres during a season. In the I old way, with header -and threshci, Kl the combined labor of 16 men would K be required to do the same task. With Ij the aid of combined harvesters, the I crop of the Inland Empire could have I been harvested by 15,000 men. The prosperity of the farmers in the Northwest is plainly evidenced at the banks. Notes and accounts are being taken up, mortgages paid off and many arc either buying or building build-ing homes in towns or making extensive ex-tensive improvements on their farms. Two months or more of good weather weath-er may be expected before the snow flurries begin, during that time many of the farm houses will be replaced by more pretentious structures and modern barns will be erected and more machinery installed on farms in various parts of the newly opened dis- 3 tricts. Another thing wliich bears out the claim of prosperity among the farmers farm-ers is the surplus of funds in the banks and the shortage of demand for money. mon-ey. Bankers say that when the crop is finally disposed of nearly all of the farmers, including many of the newcomers, new-comers, will be entirely free from debts. There is more surplus money than at any other time in 20 years. The demand for wheat is such that the grain is loaded and shipped as rapidly as it is hauled from the farms to the railroad tracks and the ware- I housemen arc able to draw sight drafts on the consignees immediately to pay the growers. In numerous instances in-stances the grain is being taken from the farmers' wagons and loaded into cars. There is no shortage of cars so far and none is looked for, as most of the wheat is going to Pugct Sound coast points, the rest being sent direct to mills in" the Inland Empire. |