HARVESTING 95 



the United States as late as 1830, was common in Great Britain 

 until 1850, and was still used in Germany in 1872. It is used 

 now in parts of Europe where the holdings are very small or 

 the peasants poor, notably in Russia. From 8 to 12 bushels of 

 wheat was considered a good average day's work. 



The Second Method of Applying Animal Power to threshing 

 was by drawing over the grain an implement made rough on the 

 bottom. It has been used in Egypt from ancient to present 

 times, and consists of a wooden frame with three cross bars or 

 axles on which are fixed circular iron plates. In ancient times 

 the grain was usually at the circumference of the circle over 

 which the machine was drawn, but now it is stacked in the 

 center. It was called the noreg, and another form was known 

 as the charatz. The moreg of the Hebrews was a similar de- 

 vice, and the old Roman devices corresponding to these in- 

 ventions were the traka and tribula. Italy and some of the east' 

 ern countries still use substantially the same implement. A 

 knifeboard construction known as the trilla is used in Spain. 



The Evolution of Modern Threshing Machines. During the 

 eighteenth century three Scotchmen made separate inventions 

 that led up to the modern threshing machine. Michael Menzies 

 came first (1732). He contrived to drive a large number of 

 flails by water power. It was called a " wonderful invention," 

 ' ' capable of giving 1,320 strokes per minute, as many as 33 men 

 threshing briskly, " and as "moved by a great water wheel and 

 triddles." Its only contribution was to demonstrate the im- 

 practicability of the flail motion. About 1758 a Scotch farmer 

 named Lackie invented a rotary machine which could thresh 

 dry oats, but in wheat it merely knocked off the heads. Its 

 value lay in showing the superiority of the rotary motion, and 

 it was the first suggestion of the modern cylinder. The first 

 machine of the modern type was invented by Andrew Meikle in 

 1786, patented in 1788, and completed in 1800 by the addition 

 of a fanning mill. This was the first machine to thresh, clean, 

 and deliver the grain in one operation. 



The early machines were driven by water, or worked by 

 horses, though wind power was also used. ' ' Cider mill ' ' horse- 

 powers were most frequently used at first. Tread or railway 

 powers came next, and soon afterward, the sweep powers. All 

 of the early threshers were stationary. The first threshing by 



