86 



THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



ed to this purpose. The stage was planted with wheat which 

 was harvested by the machine during the course of the play. 

 While English genius invented the essential contrivances of 

 the reaper, American ingenuity must in the main be accredited 

 with the rapid perfection of the machine for practical use. The 

 first patent issued in the United States on an invention in this 

 line was in 1803. The inventions of Hussey and McCormick 

 came before 1835. McCormick 's machine (patented 1834) was 

 first used in the harvest of 1831. It was drawn by one horse, 

 and seems to have possessed in crude form all of the essentials 



A MODERN SELF-RAKE REAPER 



of a modern reaper. The grain was raked from the platform 

 by a man walking behind the machine. Developing the reaper 

 of today consisted solely in perfecting contrivances for utilizing 

 the principles already discovered. The devices for automatically 

 removing the grain from the platform were many, and they 

 varied greatly in principle and crudeness. The revolving vane, 

 the first form of which was invented by Hoffhein (1852), finally 

 became established as the most advantageous method. 



The reaper was virtually perfected by 1865, but in the United 

 States other forms of harvesting machines soon entirely sup- 

 planted it in cutting wheat. It is widely used in. Europe at 



