HARVESTING. 103 
curved blade, set in the end of a short handle, 
blade and handle forming an obtuse angle, 
makes a favorite hand knife. Some people 
use a grass hook or sickle from preference. 
The straight-bladed corn knife is unsurpassed 
for rapid and effective hand work. 
Corn-harvesting machinery.— Within a few 
years machines have been devised for cutting 
corn by horse power. One method has heen to 
haul between two rows a drag with wings on 
one or both sides, to which knives are attached. 
The Buckeye machine (Fig. 35) is one of the 
most approved types of this class. It is carried 
on four wheels and is pulled by one horse. In 
the center of the machine is a tripod with a 
‘seat on which two men may sit, one on each 
end and back to back, each facing a row of corn 
and grasping the stalks as cut. When not in 
use the wings with knives may be laid up 
against the tripod. The knives adjust to leave 
stubble 6 to 14 inches long as desired. 
The self-binding form of the harvester, how- 
ever, promises to be the important one of the 
future. In the Rural New Yorker of June 20, 
1891, Prof. I. P. Roberts of Cornell University 
described a machine he devised for cutting and 
binding corn. This machine was improved by 
D. M. Osborn & Co. Since then a number of 
firms have placed self-binders on the market. 
The Deering Harvester Co. construct a machine 
