Combine Harvester
The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnowing—to a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, rice, oats, rye, barley, corn (maize), sorghum, millet, soybeans, flax (linseed), sunflowers and rapeseed. The separated straw, left lying on the field, comprises the stems and any remaining leaves of the crop with limited nutrients left in it: the straw is then either chopped, spread on the field and ploughed back in or baled for bedding and limited-feed for livestock.
Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of the population engaged in agriculture.[1]
Wiltshire (/ˈwɪlt.ʃər, -ʃɪər/;[1] abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire and Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon, and Trowbridge is the county town.
The county has an area of 1,346 sq mi (3,490 km2) and a population of 720,060. The county is mostly rural, with the centre and south-west sparsely populated. After Swindon (183,638), the largest settlements are the city of Salisbury (41,820) and the towns of Chippenham (37,548) and Trowbridge (37,169). For local government purposes the county comprises two unitary authority areas: Swindon and Wiltshire.
Undulating chalk downlands characterize much of the county; the North Wessex Downs in the east, Salisbury Plain in the centre and Cranbourne Chase in the south. The north-west is part of the Cotswolds, a limestone area. The county's major rivers are both called the Avon: the northern Avon enters the county in the north-west and flows in a southwesterly direction before leaving it near Bradford-on-Avon; the southern Avon rises on Salisbury Plain, flows through Salisbury and then into Hampshire.
Salisbury Plain is noted for the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles, which together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and other ancient landmarks. Much of the plain is a training area for the British Army. The city of Salisbury is notable for its medieval cathedral. Large country houses open to the public include Longleat, where there is also a safari park, and the National Trust's Stourhead.