CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



neighborhood McCormick could not secure the 

 best workmanship in the making of the cutting- 

 blade. However, this obstacle did not daunt 

 him. He gave his blade a more serrated edge, 

 and to his delight it cut down the wet grain 

 very nearly as neatly as the dry. 



This success had cost him another year, for 

 he sold no machines in 1841. But he had now, 

 at least, a wholly satisfactory Reaper. Fortified 

 with a testimonial from Abraham Smith, he 

 fixed the price at $100 and became a salesman. 

 By great persistence he sold seven Reapers in 

 1842, twenty-nine in 1843, and fifty in 1844. 

 At last, after thirteen years of struggle and 

 defeat, Cyrus McCormick had succeeded; and 

 the home farm was transformed into a busy 

 and triumphant Reaper factory. 



There were new obstacles, of course. A few 

 buyers failed to pay. Four machines were 

 held on loitering canal-boats until they were 

 too late for the harvest. There was strong 

 opposition in several places by day laborers. 

 A trusted workman who was sent out to collect 

 $300 ran away with both horse and money. 



[62] 



