THRESHING. The old-time plan of thresh ing. with the flail, is now only resorted to in those cases where it is necessary to save the straw of full length, and practically unbroken. This being the object, hand threshing by the flail has not been practically superseded by the use of machines. So again the most ancient practice of threshing by tramping with animals, is not now practiced except to a limited extent, and then generally only in the case of oats, when the straw is required for feeding cattle, it being -well known that stock will eat straw better from under the feet of horses than if thrashed in any other way. The steam threshing machine of to day is probably the perfection of swift, clean, and cheap threshing, many of the larger class of steam driven 'machines working up to 1,000 bushels, aud even more in good wheat, per day; the practical limit of horse machines being less than half this amount, the grain being winnowed in the niost perfect manner, and the straw at the sante operation being delivered, by means of an automatic carrier, directly on the straw stack. Various devices have been patented for threshing by means of power machines, among them beaters and rotating flails. The spiked cylinder is, however, in most general use, being faster than any other known device. The chief im provements of late years in threshing have been in perfecting the winnowing apparatus, especially in regulating the blast from ibe fan, which is sometimes so strong as to blow the grain off the riddle. These devices have in view an automatic arrangement of the entrance passage for air, whereby, when the machinery moves rapidly, the size of the passage is decreased and the quantity of air admitted thus diminished, the operation being analogous to that of a governor of a stearn engine, although the appliances nowhere resem ble it. The theory of operation observed in several of these is this: The blast from the fan is directed against a flap, which communicates, by means of a lever, with a valve on the air opening. When the blast is moderate the valve, which is weighted, remains open; but when the blast be comes violent, owing to the rapid motion of the fan, the flap is moved, and the lever connection closes the valve wholly or in part. As the ma chinery moves more slowly the force on the flap is withdrawn, and the valve opens automatically by reason of the weight. Most farmers in the West are practically acquainted with steam threshing. Not so all in older settled countries where small farms are the rule. To illustrate threshing by steam, we give on page 944 a cut of steam engine, thresher, and gearing, with elevator for carrying the straw- to the stack. Every bushel of grain, of whatever kind, sent forward from the farni in anything but the most merchantable condition, costs the farmer a loss precisely in accordance with the freight on, and the handling of the trash contained; the cost of recleaning, and the added depreciation in value from reduction in the weight of the standard bushel; added to this the lower price obtained, from the general inferior appearance of the grain from all these causes combined. Added together, the whole amounts to three or four times the cost of careful recleaning at home. Threshers, who, in fair to good grain, always work by the bushel, of course wish to make as much measure as possible, by rushing the grain through, often imperfectly threshed, and of course full of dust, dirt, straiv, and light grain. The first four
causes constitute a dead loss to the farmer, whether he recleans or not. The light grain, if sold with the good, always pauses depreciation in quality more than enough to counterbalance its weight. Thus the farmer really has no one to blame if he allows it to be so. A little intelli gent supervision will obviate all but the latter evil of light grain. This may be made right by recleaning; for, if the grain be conscientiously threshed and cleaned, still a dead loss must ensue to the farmer if be allows the grain to go from him without recleaning, since all the light grain and trash, inseparable from the best machine work, counts as nothing to the miller who makes the flour. Retained at home, this is all available as feed in some shape, and will pay the cost of recleaning with a heavy percentage added. It will indeed pay alone in the freightage of the trash, since this never realizes the transportation charges; these charges are no inconsiderable item, when thousands of miles are. estimated. Thus he retains the light grain at home, and saves freights, for light grain counts for nothing in the markets ot the world. So he ssaves in the enhanced value of clean grain—the most impor tant of all. Last, but by no means least, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he is reaping enhanced profits honestly earned, by sending his products to market in the best possible con dition. Then again, the straw in many sections of the Northwest is coming to be of value, both as winter bedding for stock aud as partial winter feeding. As taken from the carrier of the machine, it should be carefully stacked, tramping the middle of the stack as much as possible, keeping the center well up meanwhile, with the longer straw as much as possible at the outside, and carrying the ricks as high as feasi ble, without expending too much labor. These, if built pretty broad, and in L slirape, or, as three sides of a hollow square, will afford excel lent shelter for stock in winter, and at the same time make excellent winter feed for cattle, horses and mules, with the addition of a little corn or other grain. There is one other thing in this connection, not generally well understood by farmers; grain once in the stack, and well protected, should not be threshed sooner than six weeks after. It takes about this time to get through the sweat that always ensues after stacking, however dry the grain may be. The same may be said of hay. It should never be fed to stock while it is undergoing this sweat. If grain is to be threshed at once, it should be done directly from the shock. If the grain, after being in a heap over night, or longer, shows any disposition to heat, it should be thoroughly aired by being thrown from one side of the barn floor to the other, or by being run through the fanning mill; this process to be continued from time to time, until it is thoroughly dry. A little attention to the details we have mentioned, will save many dollars yearly to individual farmers, now entirely lost.