HEADER HARVESTING

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23352, 11 June 1941, Page 10

HEADER HARVESTING

. Sir,—ln my letter of June 7 I mentioned that large mills make a finished job, but Mr Holland, in your issue of June 9, does not think so. He says that although they make a better job than the header, they will not take out wild_ oats and tares. Now this takes a little explaining. In the case of wild oats, when a crop of wheat is cut at binder ripe, the wild oats have not fallen and they are put through the mill, and uine-tenths of them can be removed from the grain with the up-to-date mills! It is practically the ' same with wild tares, as very few enter the firsts sample. This is not the Case with Scotch tares, as the seed is larger. With both wild and Scotch tares it is necessary to put the grain through a cylinder specially made for the job, which is a slow process. Grain that is badly infested with wild oats and tares is very seldom used for seed or milling purposes. When wheat is left to ripen for the header harvester the wild oats have ripened and fallen, so the machine does not have to deal with them to a very great extent. When grain infested with tares is headed the machine misses most of the tares and the remainder falls on the ground. This is so with practically all weed seeds, as many farmers have found out to their sorrow. If a seed riddle is used on a header to remove small weed seeds, these fall on the ground and are distributed, whereas, with a large mill, the weed seeds are left in a heap and can be destroyed or gathered for pig feed, after being boiled. Mr Holland mentions the weighing of headed wheat. This can be easily carried out on the header, but it is never advocated, as It would add to the cost of harvesting; one man could not handle the grain on his own. If another man has to be employed to weigh the grain, it would bring,the cost higher than the old method. Again, I say that the up-to-date large mill is the most efficient threshing and finishing machine in the world, and the header does a wonderful job if worked as it should be, and is not put to do work for which it is not fitted.— Yours, etc., •> H. C. ELL. June 10. 1941.