HARVESTING 85 



headers, is a reciprocating rectilinear motion. As perfected, this 

 type involves the principles of both the saw and the shears. 



In Pitt's "rippling cylinder " were combined the first use of 

 the circular motion, the first forerunner of the reel, and the 

 first utilization of the principle involved in transmitting power 

 from the wheels of the machine to operate some of its parts. 

 The latter principle has been utilized in practically all harvest- 

 ing machines ever built, excepting some of the combined har- 

 vesters constructed since 1903. Some form of the reel is also 

 found on every harvesting machine which has had any success. 

 In consideration of these facts, Pitt's name holds high rank 

 among inventors of harvesting machinery. 



The first patent on a reaping machine was granted in Eng- 

 land to Joseph Boyce in 1799. Its only title to fame is priority. 



AN EARLY ENGLISH REAPER INVENTED BY BELL, 1828 



A year later an unsuccessful attempt was made to adopt shears 

 as a cutting apparatus. This machine was unique in being 

 operated by human power. Outside and inside dividers to 

 separate the swath from the grain left standing, now found 

 on all harvesting machines, were apparently first used in 1805. 

 With Gladstone's machine (1806), the first to be drawn instead 

 of pushed, appeared the side cut and the platform upon which 

 the severed grain falls. Salmon (1808) first utilized the re- 

 ciprocating cutter combined with the advancing motion of the 

 machine. His reaper was also the first to have a self -delivering 

 apparatus for the grain. Dobbs, a theatrical genius, invented 

 a reaper (1841) and introduced it to the public in a play adapt- 



