MACHINES FOR HARVESTING.
The scythe, the sickle (p. 59, .fig. 4), and the cradle (fig. 3), imple ments everywhere in use a half-century ago, are no longer employed in extensive farm operations. The mowing-machine has taken the place of the scythe, and the reaping-machine has been substituted for the sickle and the cradle.
The first reaping-machine of which there is record was described by Pliny about A. D. 6o (fig. 1). It•was in the form of a cart which had in front a comb-like bar (fig. 2) that stripped off the heads of wheat and deposited them in a box. It was propelled by an ox walking behind the machine. Pitt in 1786 constructed in England a machine in which a cylinder armed with combs plucked off the ears and discharged them into a box. This was the forerunner of the present form of machines. In 1822, Henry Ogle of Alnwick, England, constructed a machine in which a recip rocating motion was given to the cutters. No great efficiency, however, was attained until the invention of the American reaper by Hussey in 1833 (IV. 59, Jr. 5), and by 'McCormick in 1834. For the next twenty years im provements were continuous, but it was not until about 1850 that the use fulness of the reaper was universally acknowledged. Combined machines —that is, machines which could be used alternately for cutting both grass and grain—were widely used for many years. It has, however, been found that a machine designed for both kinds of work does not perform either so well as one which is made especially for one kind, and therefore it is now generally considered advisable to have one machine for mowing and another for reaping.
it would be impossible to do justice to all by attempting- to describe the different inventions which have been applied to the modern mower or to speak of its various forms, we shall give an illustration and description of the construction and operation of but one machine (pt. 58, 7), which may be considered as a specific type combin ing many desirable modifications. The most important parts are the knife, finger-bar, and guards or fingers, which are practically the same in all ma chines. Figures 8, 9 exhibit sections of these parts on a larger scale than
is seen in the complete cutting-apparatus. The knife is driven by the pit man, which is operated by a crank-wheel actuated by suitable cog-gearing (fig. 8), to which motion is imparted by the forward movement of the driver-wheels. The serrated blade, which passes through a narrow slit in each of the ficgers on the finger-bar(fig. io), is made to vibrate rapidly to and fro by the cog-work of the machine, and, operating on the standing grass like a number of powerful shears, severs every plant in its course. The pitman is attached to the knife by a ball-and-socket joint, which admits of flexibility of movement in every direction. For adjusting the cut the points of the guards can be raised or lowered by a tilting-lever convenient to the hand of the operator. To transfer the machine from the field the cutting-bar is raised and fastened in a vertical position.
Hay-tedarer.—After the grass has been cut it should be dried as evenly and as rapidly as possible. The mowing-machine leaves it a compact mass of parallel stems which need to be shaken up and to be thrown one across another in every direction that they may be exposed to the full influence of the sun and the air. This is accomplished by the teddcr (fig. It), which has the capacity and power to ted the heaviest hay or grass and will shake out hay in windrows even if thoroughly soaked with water from rain. The forks are operated by a crank-shaft in bearings on the frame of the machine and can be lowered or raised by a tilting-lever, which is easily reached by the driver; the shaft receives its motion from cog-gcarings, which are on the runner-wheels and which engage a small cog-wheel on each end of the crank-shaft.
the hay is sufficiently dried, it should be im mediately housed or stacked. The old method was to gather it in windrows with a hand-rake, but this was a slow and laborious process, requiring too much time, which to the farmer is money, especially when the day is far spent or when his spread-out hay is threatened by an approaching shower.