THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



51 



Samuelson, of Banbury, and which is now attracting 

 considerable attention amongst practical men. Tlie 

 principal novelty in this apparatus is the method by 

 which the crop, after being cut, is collected into bundles 

 for sheafs, the quantity contained in which is capable of 

 easy regulation. The mechanical movements by which 

 the raking is effected are exceedingly ingenious, and, 

 considering the somewhat- intricate nature of the work 

 desiderated, are not so complicated as at first might be 

 supposed. Difficult as the task is to describe mecha- 

 nism without the aid of illustrations, we shall endeavour 

 to place such a " word-view" before our readers as will 

 enable them to have a fair notion of the mode of operation 

 of this ingenious " automaton reaper." 



The rake has a twofold movement : first, an alternate 

 movement of progression by which it sweeps the corn 

 off the platform from the side at which the cutting- 

 knives are, to that at which it is delivered, returning in 

 the reverse direction ; and, second, a movement of 

 rotation, or part rotation, on its own axis. This second 

 movement is required fr&m the following circumstance : 

 the teeth of the rake being placed vertically while 

 sweeping off the corn from the front of the platform on 

 which it falls after being cut, to the side otthe machine, 

 it follows that, if the rake made its return-journey with 

 the teeth still vertical, the corn lying on the platform 

 would be shoved off" towards the cutters as the rake 

 finished its return movement. To keep the teeth, there- 

 fore, out of the way of the corn, they are changed in the 

 returning journey from the vertical to the horizontal 

 position ; the rake at the same time being raised from 

 a low to a higher position, it passes over the corn lying on 

 the platform. At the conclusion of the return-journey 

 the rake falls from its high to its low point, the teeth 

 being changed, by the part rotation of the shaft of the 

 rake on its axis, from the horizontal to the vertical po- 

 sition, and so placed as to engage with or take hold of 

 the corn, as soon as the movement of the rake in the 

 opposite direction is commenced. 



How this part-rotation of the rake is effected we now 

 proceed to show ; this will, however, necessitate a de- 

 scription of the movement by which the rake is made to 

 sweep over the quadrantal platform, alternately, in oppo- 

 site directions, the one movement being dependent upon 

 the other. The curved platform (a), above alluded to, 

 is described with a radius equal in length to the shaft of 

 the rake {b). A cast-iron rack (c), curved in section 

 with same radius as the platform, is provided with teeth 

 at its upper and lower edges, and also at both ends, 

 which are circular. If this rack were spread out flat it 

 wduld present the appearance of a rectangular plate, 

 with circular ends, entirely surrounded with teeth. To 

 a lever (d) — w hich receives a reciprocating motion from 

 side to side, through the medium of a crank, obtaining 

 motion from the main driving wheel of the reaper — a 

 pinion (e) is connected, the teeth of which engage with 

 the teeth of the rack ; with this lever (d) the shaft of the 

 rake (6 is also connected. As the pinion (e) is made to 

 work along the upper side of the curved rack (c) it re- 

 ceives a motion of rotation on its axis, the direction of 

 which is reversed, however, as soon as it passes over the 



circular end of the rack, and traverses the teeth of the 

 underside. The pinion (e) has thus Imo motions each, in 

 opposite directions, according as it traverses the under or 

 upper side of the rack (c). As the pinion (c) passes 

 from the upper to the under side of the rack (c), the 

 lover (d) will fall from a high to a low position, and vice 

 versa, as the pinion rises over the curved end from the 

 under to the upper side of the rack (c). As the shaft of 

 the rack (6) is connected with the lever (d), it will thus 

 have the rise and lall to which we have formerly alluded. 

 It is from this rise and fall of the rake shaft that the part 

 rotation on its own axis, also already referred to, is 

 obtained, and in this way : At its lowest position 

 the rake-shaft is at the side of the platform near- 

 est the cutter, and just before it commences the 

 movement, which sweeps the corn to the side of the 

 machine ; and at its highest position when returning 

 empty from the side of the platform. To the pinion (e) 

 a vertical rack (/) is attached, and which rises and falls 

 with it ; with this rack a pinion (g), fixed on the end of the 

 rake-shaft, engages. As the rack (/) falls, its move- 

 ment actuates the pinion fg), and causes the shaft of 

 the rake to make a quarter turn on its axis, changing 

 the teeth from the horizontal to the vertical position. 

 The rake then sweeps the grain to the side of the ma- 

 chine ; and as the pinion (e) rises up to engage with the 

 teeth on the upper side of the rack (c), the rack (/) 

 also rises with it, and by its movement actuates the 

 pinion (g) on the end of the shaft, and turning it a quar- 

 ter round, changes the teeth from the vertical position, 

 in which they are kept till the rake has finished its re- 

 turn journey, when the movements above-described are 

 again repeated. 



A peculiarity in the arrangement of the *' gathering- 

 reel," by which the standing corn is brought up to the 

 action of the knives, is worthy of notice here, as we con- 

 sider it an important improvement. We have elsewhere 

 thus described it; " The horizontal bars of the reel, in- 

 stead of being placed parallel to the shaft, are oblique 

 to it. This places one end of the bars which strike the 

 corn nearer the machine than the other; the consequence 

 of which is, that they have less of the thrashing or beat- 

 ing influence which they possess when placed parallel 

 to the shaft. When placed obliquely they exert at the 

 moment of striking the corn little momentum ; but as it 

 sweeps along the oblique bars, it is brought gradually up 

 to the action of the cutters, in a manner closely resem- 

 bling the action of a man's hand, when in performing 

 the operation, in inserting his hand at one side, he gra- 

 dually brings his arm to bear upon the grain, instead of 

 beating it directly down the whole length of his arm at 

 once." 



3. Shireff's Guano - distributing Machine. — This 

 apparatus distributes guano in drills if required, as well 

 as in broadcast. It resembles in general arrangements 

 Chambers's well-known Broadcast Manure Distributor, 

 but i:: of pi mpler character and less pretentious work- 

 manship. The change from a broadcast to a drill dis- 

 tributor is eff'ected by adjusting a series of lids or valves, 

 so that openings in the bottom of the manure chest are 

 left at the desired intervals. When used as a broadcast 

 E 2 



