On the morning of July 19, visitors are welcome to come to Legacy of the Plains Museum to watch a historical demonstration of how an International Harvester binder was used in the first step of the wheat harvest: cutting and binding.
Before the advent of the combine, which cut and threshed the grain in one step, wheat harvest typically consisted of three steps. First, the wheat would be cut and bound into bundles. Next, the bundles would be arranged into small piles called shocks, which would keep the grain off the ground and allow it to dry. Finally, the grain would be threshed from the chaff.
The wheat that is cut and bound this weekend will be stored until the Harvest Festival Sept. 20-21, when it will be threshed during a vintage threshing machine demonstration.
Two hayrack tours of the binding demonstration will be offered, with the first departure from the museum parking lot at 10 a.m.