Threshing was just one step in the harvest, the culmination of a short but extremely intense period when farmers raced against time and the elements to get their crops in and in market. This process started when a farmer used a binder (reaper) to cut a swath of grain, which was bound into bundles. Workers following the binder arranged 3 or 4 bundles into stooks, which meant standing and leaning them against each other in order to allow the air circulation needed to dry the grain. The grain was a