HIS LIFE AND WORK 



But none of tMese trifles moved the victorious 

 McCormick. The great stubborn world was 

 about to surrender, and he knew it. 



By 1844 he had done more than sell machines. 

 He had made converts. One enthusiastic 

 farmer named James M. Hite, who had made 

 a world's record in 1843 by cutting 175 acres 

 of wheat in less than eight days, was the first 

 of these apostles of the Reaper. "My Reaper 

 has more than paid for itself in one harvest," 

 he said; and he gave $1,333 for the right to sell 

 Reapers in eight counties. Closely after this 

 man came Colonel Tutwiler, who agreed to pay 

 $2,500 for the right to sell in southern Virginia. 

 And a manufacturer in Richmond, J. Parker, 

 bought an agency in five counties for $500; 

 and won the renown of being the first business 

 man who appreciated the Reaper. All this 

 money was not paid in at once. Some of it 

 was never paid. But after thirteen years of 

 struggle and debt, this was Big Business. 



Best of all, orders for seven Reapers had come 

 from the West. Two farmers in Tennessee 

 and one each in Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, 



[63] 



