32 



about 1874, when the first machine of this t^'pe was invented, but it 

 was ten years later that it was patented. The rollers w^ere placed in 

 the inclined position for the stalks of corn to pass between them. 

 The end portions of the rollers where the stalks entered were provided 

 with bars designed to aid in snapping off the ears as the stalks past 

 dow^n between the rollers during the advance of the machine. For the 

 remainder of their length the rollers w^ere so constructed as to tear the 



husks from the ears and continuously feed 

 the ears along to be finally discharged, husked,, 

 onto a conveyor, and delivered into suit- 

 able receptacles. This particular machine 

 was thought to promise success, but when 

 the corn binders began to be developed and 

 came into use the interest in corn pickers 

 abated, as it was thought that wdth a suc- 

 cessful corn binder there would be no need 

 of corn pickers. HoW' ever, the use of the corn 

 binder and the shocker, while quite extensive, 

 does not solve the corn-harvesting problem 

 in the purely corn-raising regions, w^here a 

 large share of the corn is still picked by hand 

 from the stalks as they stand in the field. 



About 1902 the attention of manufacturers 

 was again turned to corn pickers and several 

 machines are now being introduced for pick- 

 ing corn. The corn picker as now^ constructed 

 resembles the corn binder in the construc- 

 tion of the- main frame, drive wheels, and 

 dividers. It passes along the row^ of corn, 

 which is straddled by the dividers, and the 

 stalks after being righted by the points, 

 chains, and other devices, pass between a pair 

 of inclined, corrugated rollers that snap or 

 strip oflF the ears. The rollers are positioned 

 so that the ears fall naturally into a trough 

 that extends along beside them. In order to 

 provide snapping rollers to remove the ears 

 and force them to fall always to the same side, yet permit free entrance 

 of the upright stalks at the receiving end without the necessity of auxil- 

 iary means to bend the stalks laterally, James E. Goodhue arranged the 

 snapping rollers in slightly skew^ed relation, by which the upright stalk 

 may be gradually forced to one side as the picking rolls pass along, and 

 the ears are broken off and directed to one side. The ears are carried 

 back by a traveling conveyor and either delivered to a set of husking 



Fig. is. — A corn-picking ma- 

 chine. 



