196 THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 



bound with a handful of straw. Even though the 

 sickle was one of the earliest instruments, it is still 

 used in small fields in Palestine, China, Spain, and 

 other places. 



The Cradle. - - Another ancient reaping instru- 

 ment was the cradle. It was operated with both 

 hands and carried a framework to collect the grain 

 as it was cut. Americans perfected the cradle ; 

 and, in the perfected form, the cradle rapidly 

 replaced the sickle. It seems strange that so 

 simple an implement and one used in prehistoric 

 times should not sooner have reached a perfected 

 form. For thousands of years the sickle and the 

 crude cradle had been practically the only har- 

 vesting implements used in the wheat harvest. 

 The American cradle came into use during the 

 Revolutionary War. It marked the beginning of 

 inventions which have led to the complicated 

 machinery of to-day. 



The Header. - - Ancient writings give an ac- 

 count of a crude harvesting machine which was 

 used in Gaul about 70 A.D. According to Pliny's 

 description this was a header. It consisted of a 

 box mounted on two wheels. In front of the box 

 was a set of teeth made of sticks and set close 

 together. An ox yoked to the rear moved this 

 implement through the field. The teeth tore off 

 the heads of the wheat, which a man then raked 

 into the box. 



