1S1 



regard to the first, many attempts have been made, at va- 

 rious times, for constructing machines competent to 

 the task of threshing ; but I am fully convinced, that 

 had it not been for the superior ingenuity of Andrew 

 Meikle, no threshing -mill would have been brought to 

 any tolerable degree of perfection in our time. To him 

 may be justly attributed the merit of the feeding-rollers, 

 and the drum ; the plan of the flax- mill having been 

 adopted in other cases. Every friend to merit, must re- 

 joice to hear, that the inventor of so important a ma- 

 chine, will be rendered comfortable in his old age, by the 

 voluntary donations of his grateful countrymen *. 



It is not intended, in this place, to give any description 

 of the nature of the machinery, but it may be proper 

 shortly to lay before the reader, i. An account of the 

 different powers used in driving the machine ; 2. A short 

 view of the advantages resulting from the invention ; 

 and, 3. Some hints regarding the improvements of which 

 it is susceptible. 



Threshing-mills are driven, i. By horses ; 2. By oxen ; 

 3. .By wind ; 4. By wind or horses ; 5. By water ; 6. By 

 water or horses ; or, 7. By steam. Some small ma- 

 chines of this sort are driven by manual labour, but they 

 do not merit any particular notice, and in general it is 

 observed, that unless machines are of a strong and power- 



rity of Mr Jack of Moncur, that in the Carse of Gowrie dis- 

 trict alone, which is a tract of about fourteen miles long, and 

 four miles broad, there are no less than 1 20 threshing-mills 

 driven by horses, and ten by water ; and that there is hardly 

 a farm of any extent in Scotland without fanners. Mill- 

 wrights also have now become a separate trade, or occupa- 

 tion, from other branches of mechanism. 



* The history of the origin of the threshing-mill is Tcry 

 ably explained in the Farmer's Magazine. 



