THE HARVEST SEASON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15513, 21 January 1914, Page 14

THE HARVEST SEASON.

Z MAN AND MACHINES. BT W.S. Harvesting is in full swing in some districts. Reaping, stocking, and in gome places stacking, is the order of the day. Heaping is the operation of cutting and gathering together and tying into sheaves nil classes of cereal crops. It is upon the efficient work of the self-binder that the success of gathering the crop chiefly depends at the present day. The qualiy of the work, however, and the rate at which it is done largely depends upon the man in charge of the machine. To bo a successful driver he must be careful in the extreme, as well as possessing a thorough knowledge of the machine he is operating, for it is upon the carefulness of the driver that the neatness of the cutting and the laying out of the sheaves in a proper manner chiefly rests. Drivers of Reapers. • A careful man will frequently adjust his machine in a way to suit all classes of all lengths of crop, and will do this with as little friction on the machine and as little waste of stuff as possible. He will strive to make his sheaves neat without loose ends, and of a suitable size, and have every sheaf well balanced. "That is to say, the twine will be fair in the middlo of lha weight of the sheaf, so that when the sheaf is lifted by the band or in tne vicinity of the band it will lift bodily up instead of itilting one way or the other, thus lessening the chance of waste heads dropping out of the sheaves. . Neat Sheaves. By having the sheaves neat not only is there less waste,, but they will be much more easily handled at stacking. To make a neat sheaf, however, too much importance must not be placed upon the actual binding, as this part is powerless to make a neat sheaf unless the grain is properly presented. This should commence at the other end of tho machine, namely, at the fans. They should be so adjusted as to merely lay the stuff carefully back on to the platform arms, and should neither be set too low nor too far back, or undue waste will be the result. If the reaped grain is laid straight on the platform it will be conveyed to the binder in such a way as to allow that part of the machine to perform its work in a proper - manner. Ou the other hand, if the stuff is tossed and battered about by the fans, or pulled about by a blunt or badly-cut-ting knife, it is impossible to adjust the binder o make good work of the sheaves. How to Run a Reaper. With the'modern binder, and in a moderately even crop, there should be practically no waste. Much unnecessary waste is occasioned by not. giving the machine the right amount of tilt. Many binder experts argue that the machine should be ran quite level— is to say, the knife bar should not be tilted in any way, but the whole machine should be horizontal," their argument being that the bearing will run .more easily, , owing chiefly to their parts getting more perfectly lubricated. Now, while it /must be "admitted. that there is ft certain amount of reason in this, it nevertheless cannot be followed to the letter. The practical v driver knows from experience that to run tire binder absolutely level means a bad-shaped sheaf with an enormous amount of waste, which ','.; is freatly increased/if. there is; a slight head breeze, or the " horees should get on-a little extra pace. •f; 1 '' 1 t- ..'"-• .f The Level or Tilt Question. - *>. Therefore, instead of running the machine quite level it is much better to ' run it with a little tilt,. that is to'siry, the back should not be less than 3in higher -than the'tlTrqnt. ''I This catches', the /stuff, and keeps it together, and it falls back from the fans and on to the platform canvas, instead of sliding back and out of order .With the least extra v fan or /when • 'facing 1 the wind, as would be the case if the binder 'Was run absolutely -level: <■', ln (cutting •wops on uneven around, sneh as slip or down hill, crossing gullies, or old watercourses, iii order 'to ! make a goodj job ' the tilting beams should be brought into coni stant use. Fair instance, when ; the machine ;is cuttingdOwn hill the'tflfcing leaves ' , should be raised one or more.inches, according the steepness of the grade. .■While travelling up-hill lower/the leaves.If ; this-iaJiroperjy .attended to an even atubble.r arid"c6nseqUontly an even sheaf, . ;wili be left over the whole, of■; the i £»ld, no matter how, uneven the ground may be. I -■>■ vT"*f The*. Sheaf Carrier. ' , .'V •- ' When the sheaf carrier is used it is important- that the sheaves ; should be * dropped in even rows, and not more than can-be conveniently carried without caus- • ing undue'wear and tear on the'*binder, at the same time leaving- them' in neat tows to a*to minimise labour as much as pos- , •ible.. Care should be taken to empty the ' ' carrier just be*fore turning the corner. This will save any sheaves being dropped immediately after the binder has ■ turned, thus avoiding the grain being trampled about, by the horses of the next binder, ' and at the same time leaves a clean space for the binders to pull out at each corner if necessity There is often a considerable amount of discussion as to what is the best size the sheaf should be tied, Some contend that a small sheaf is best, while others maintain that the sheaf 'of a larger size is more economical, and '< therefore is preferable in every way to a email sheaf." " ;;' The Size of a Shea!. There can, however, be no set size for a sheaf, as the size must be regulated according to conditions. For instance, in wet districts, or where the crops are late in maturing, the small sheaf is the safer,, -as the sun and wind is better > able to penetrate through the -sheaf, and so minimise tho risk of sprouting or, moulding about the band. Again, by making ,the sheaves on the small size, stacking can be commenced a day or two sooner. On the other 'hand, however, the largesized sheaves have their advantages. First, it is more economical on twine; secondly, much time is saved in stooking and stacking; thirdly, a fair-sized sheaf will stand up against;winds' in the stook better than the' small' sized. ' - ' " : ' Area Cut. la a Day. The amount that can be cut.in a dav by the binder is- often asked, and it is needless to say that ( the area quoted .by various drivers and experts has a very wide range indeed. Of course, the.area tJiat is covered depends upon the weight and nature of the crop, the size of the field, and the class of land on 'which the crop is grown; also the size and quality of the horses yoked to the binders. On level country, where the fields are moderately large, tho area ranges from 16 to as high as 26 acres, and in some cases even more per day. The later, as would | be expected, can only be performed under favourable '■ conditions, and by having a change' of horses, which must be of no mean order. If the horses are exceptionally good, four horses to the binder is generally used, while of the lighter or inferior sorts six horses to each binder is required, worked in shifts. A man or boy is .told off to groom, feed, and change the horses at- proper intervals, which is • usually Cut -up into 'four shifts per day. .Providing the cutting is fairly good, and the binder going with a full cut, two acres per hour can be cut with comparative easel 'with a 6ft machine. , ■'/'