41 



woody conditio*!! which the cattle did not much rehsh. The bruisinoj 

 and shredding action of the thrasher jjut the stalk in a more palatable 

 form. The repeated shortages and failures of the hay crop during 

 the decadal SS(V.)(), together with the results of attempts at thrash- 

 ing corn led to the invention of the combined busker and shredder, 

 which takes the stalks with the ears on them, removes the ears, 

 husks them, and prepares the stalks for feeding. A combined liusker 

 and shredder patented by J. F. Kurd, of Minnesota, in 1890, ap])li- 

 cation having been filed in 1887, is one of the earliest of the shredder 

 type. 



There are at this time many different makes of this machine in the 

 market. They are of various designs and are frequently made'SO as 

 to be fitted with exchangeable cutter and shredder heads. The 

 general construction of all machines of this class is very much the 

 same, however. Some are rather complicated in their construction 



^^£UMJtr/C S7>9CJ<^^ 



Fig. 22.— Skeleton of hiiskcr and shredder. 



while others are very elementary. A discussion of one of the more 

 complicated will serve to explain the general operation of all. By 

 referring to figure 22 the construction will be easily understood. 



The stalks are first fed to the snapping rolls, where the ears are 

 l)roken from them. The stalks are driven forward by the snapping 

 rolls until they meet the slu'cdder head, where they are cut to shreds 

 by knives of special forms shown in figure 23. The slu-edded parts 

 of the stalk fall upon a vibrating carrier whose motion is comple- 

 .mented by the action of arms. The slu'eds fall from this carrier into 

 the blast from the fodder blower, which carries them up thru the 

 stacker. 



The ears which are broken from the stalks by the snapping rolls 

 drop upon the husking rolls where the husks are torn from them. 

 The husked ears gradually descend along the inclined husking rolls 

 until they finally fall upon an elevator which carries them to the bin 

 or other place provided for them. 



