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By BRIAN BAKER rode in the air conditioned cab of thirtyfive thousand dollar combine and marvelled as the swathed windrows of grain picked up on the thirteen foot wide header and were whisked in beneath the cab by an augeer to be threshed in the fast revolving cylinder and separated by screens shakers and an air fan all at ground speed you would have to run to keepupwith The fields of mixed grain oats and barley were our own The crop had been cut and swathed few days earlier by John Johnston of Thornton with his twelvefoot self propelled swather In order to dry the grain for better storage wnerroixirator of the combine was Lloyd ampbelL also of Thornton IIHIIILSIIPIISlNII The grain was unloaded hundred bushels at time from the combine into our self unloading or gravity unloading hopper wagons the barn these ltl turn unloaded by gravity through bottom gate into an auger that augered the grain into five thousand bushel steel biii high pressure tan allows us to force cool dry air up through mesh iii the bottom of the bin to remove the heat from the sun heated grain and remove any moisture that might cause heating and spoilage All this made me think about how far grain hatyesting methods have come in Simcoe County from pioneer times in the early 1800s when the set tlers had to cut their grain and wheat by hand using sickle work around the tree stumps still thickly dotting the newly cleared and forest surrounded fields MORE SUIIIISIH IIIl More sophisticated than the sickle was the cradle scythe with frame of curved slats which gathered the gram into sheafsized bundles as it was cut good man cotild cut an acre or more of grain day Harvesting grain was usqu family affair ith the women and children following behind tying the gram into sheaves Wlth bonds of bands of twisted straw and stooking them me method of threshing the grain was to walk an oxen around the around on pile of the opened shcayes The more common method was to beat the grain out with flail wooden handle to which is at tached by leather strap another heavy stick would not know which end was which This was done on windy day so that the grain could be separated lrom the chaff and straw by tossing it up in the air usually the task of the women with wooden forks and letting the wind blow the lighter straw and clialt away while the gram tell intoa pile Iu Il NIZ Il TIMIIS The first sign of mechanixa tion of gram harvesting came with the advent of the horse drawn reaper in about the ltifios This machine not oiin cut the grain but by means of NEED INSURANCEflD One of our representatives will be happy to discuss your insurance needs With you We have many coverage plans to suit your lifestyle and budget BEVAN Insurance Agencies NomAnoUIoluhou 160 BRADFORD ST 726338 horizontally turning reel bats swept the grain off in sheaf size bundles already to be tied by hand When McCormick invented the binder believe some time in the 1880s which not only cut and bundled the grain but also tied it into sheaves people thought the ultimate had been reached in grain harvesting The first threshing machines powered by horsepowered gear and shaft mechanisms looked more like glorified fanning mills These rapidly developed into the threshing machines some of which still are in use today in Simcoe ounty First they were powered by portable steam engines later by those colorful smoke belching monsters lANDSCAPING AND GARDENING CENTRES TROPICAL CORNER OF GR UL TUBE SPRA YERS The Calsa line of agricultural Sprayers is second to none With range including 110 gallon US mounted units to the big 600 gallon US Calsa can meet the needs of every grower 3012 PI economy sprayer 4025 Fsprayer includes many technical advantages 6830 pulltype sprayer 9060 topoltheline sprayer For more information and copy of the new Calsa product booklet write or call LOL 2K0 LAVERYS OUTDOOR CENTRES lAVERYS we ournoon CENTRES no LANDSCAPING GARDEN CENTRE BOX PLANTS 7289542 $1 00 OFF THE PURCHASE OF ALL EVERGREEN AND DECIDUOUS TREES WITH THIS COUPON CLIP AND SAVE FOR SEASONl PER PERSON known as engines BE SEEN HERE Most of these harvesting devices may be seen at the various pioneer museums throughout the county in cluding Simcoe ounty MUScum and at local steam shows The first combines came into the area in the 1930s They were pulled by tractors and self powered or driven by power takeoff from the tractor They were first known as ombine harvester tlireshers remember the first time we had our clover combined in the early 1950s standing on the platform of Bob Eldriges com bine tying up the bags of clover and sliding them down the little steam traction CORNER OF BLAKE AND GROVE BLAKE GROVE pulltype model MOREAU FARM EQUIPMENT RR N0 Phelpston Ont 70532217 chute onto the ground as we went Long after the first combines came threshing machines were still in most common use main ly because they were so well adapted to the community bee method of doing big farm jobs in which all the neighbors chipped in to help each other STROUD ONTARIO TELEPHONE 4361910 LOL 2M0 Of course the threshing bee was usually the biggest and most exciting of these bees with up to sixteen neighbors and as many as five teams be ing present when it was stook threshing meaning when the grain was hauled directly from the stooks in the field to be threshed at the barn remember some of the last Plant Your SAVINGS in the CREDIT UNION with the GREEN THUMB INNISFIl FARMERS CREDIT UNION lIMlTED OFFICE HOURS MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 900 um to 400 pm FRIDAY 900 om to 800 pm CLOSED SATURDAYS CYRIL SPENCE 250 Sunnybrae Ave Stroud Ont 054361510 of such operations where like out west the thresher was set up in the middle of the field and the straw was blown into huge stack Later the field was cultivated and the stack was set fire producing what resembled fiercely burning cloud with flames leaping skyward bun dred feet