REAPERS, REAPING (from reap, AS. ripan. to reap ; connected with OHG. rifi, Ger. reif, AS. ripe, Eng. ripe). The first implement used for reaping was the reaping hook or sickle, dat ing from the Stone and Bronze ages (Fig. 1, a, b, c, d). Records of this implement are found in Egyptian history B.C. 1400 to 1500. The earliest form of the sickle had a slightly curved blade with straight handle; later the blade was toothed or serrated, and its form approached that of the modern sickle. As a rule the edge was made plain and sharp like a knife. The ancient Jews used a sickle of the Egyptian form. In China and Japan to-day are found sickles of much the same form as those which have been used there from time immemorial. The Greeks 'and Romans used smooth-bladed sickles or a sickle with toothed blade attached to a curved stick. The latter also used a small hooked knife re sembling a pruning hook. The scythe followed the sickle and was apparently introduced by the Romans, by whom it was employed mainly for cutting grass. Pliny. in his writings, distinguishes between the sickle and the scythe, and Crescenzio described both in 1548. At first the scythe was intermediate in construction between the sickle and the modern scythe, as in the Hainault scythe (Fig. I, f). In time the blade became lighter, and the handle underwent numerous changes in form and material until the modern crooked wooden pattern was evolved. The next step was the fas tening of fingers (one to four) to the scythe par allel with the blade, thus evolving the so-called cradle scythe (Fig. 2, a). The fingers were at first made shorter than the blade, and the operator cut toward, and left the cut grain lean ing against. the standing grain. The Americans made improvements in these old forms, and devel oped the American cradle scythe (Fig. 2, b) about the period from 1776 to 1800. This implement little progress was made until 1822, when Henry Ogle brought out bis side-draught machine, with reels, reciprocating knife (straight-edged) over was in universal use in America at the begin ning of the nineteenth century. It is now em
ployed only where the use of reaping machines is impracticable. Both sickle and scythe are widely useful agricultural implements.
The first reaping machine recorded in history is the Gallic header (Fig. 3) mentioned by Pliny, A.D. 23, as used in the extensive fields of the lowlands of Gaul. This consisted of a large box with projecting teeth along its front edge, which was pushed through the grain by an ox hitched in rear. The heads were caught and torn off by the teeth and were raked into the box by an attendant. A similar machine was mentioned by Palladius four centuries later. but it was forgotten for ages. In modern times the idea of a mechanical reaper seems to have originated with Cabel Lloft of Britain, who in 1785 suggested a machine somewhat after the pattern of the Gallic header. It was probably never constructed. After that date numerous un successful attempts were made to construct a practical reaping machine on the Gallic header plan or using the revolving knife idea. In 1807 Salmon of Woburn made the first reciprocating and advancing-motion machine, its cutter con sisting of vibrating knife' over stationary cut ters. This machine as well as that of Gladstone was provided with a rake to sweep the grain from the platform. A number of machines were invented and trial about this time, but stationary fingers. dividers, and platform, thus foreshadowing the essential features of the mod ern reaper (Fig. 4). In 1S27 Patrick Bell invented a machine which was used with con siderable success in England and Scotland. Its cutter worked on the shear principle. The cut grain was carried to one side by means of revolv ing rollers. It had reels and dividers, and was pushed through the grain by a team hitched in the rear. This machine, although built on a wrong principle, is important because it was simple in construction and fairly efficient in practice. It was introduced to some extent in America.