surplus was either ground in their own grist mills or shipped the 30-50 miles to Emerson by horse and wagon. By 1881 with wheat prices as high as $1.00 a bushel, farmers were selling large quantities of grain with 200-300 loads of grain shipped to Emerson on some days." This shift to commercial grain farming was facilitated not only by increasing acreages and good crop years, but also by the introduction of new technology which the Mennonites quickly utilized. Threshing ma­ chines were being used by Mennonites as early as 1878, by 1879 reapers and mowers were common and by 1882 many Mennonite farmers were buying seeders and self binders. 43

This increase in agricultural production took place inspite of numerous setbacks. Hail damaged the crops of eight villages in 1882 cutting yields by one third and frost and rust also plagued farmers that year." Early frosts during the first years of the 1880's caused many farmers to switch from Russian wheat to English wheat, Red Fife, which matured earlier and for which higher prices were being paid.