INDUSTRIAL REVIEW 



197 



This machine fell into disuse and was forgotten 

 for many centuries, but its history seems to have 

 served as the basis for the first English inventions. 

 An early English header was planned by William 

 Pitt, and constructed about 1786. It had a re- 

 volving cylinder set with teeth by means of which 

 the heads of wheat were caught and carried over 



Courtesy International Harvester Co. 

 FIG. 85. The first reaper. 



into a box at the rear. This was the first of a 

 series of machines which led to the perfection of 

 the modern header sixty-three years later. 



The Reaper. - - In the meantime a set of ma- 

 chines built along different lines was invented. 

 These machines were called reapers. The first 

 reapers made by the English had not proved very 

 successful, when, in 1803, American machines 

 began to appear. These soon became the leading 



