0^n ^ro cfucto ry^ 



HE photographs reproduced in this volume have been 

 secured from every quarter of the inhabited world, 

 and the work of collecting them has been under way 

 for a number of years. The illustrations show every 

 method of harvesting known to man since the time of 

 Rameses. 2500 years B.C. 



The basis of progress is agriculture. This is beginning to 

 be quite generally understood, but comparatively few people 

 realize how important a part the harvesting machine plays in 

 the industrial progress of the world. 



The invention of the reaper in 1831 and the subsequent 

 development of the modern farm machine industry made it 

 possible for the United States to advance from a low rank 

 among nations to the very highest position, with a capacity 

 in production of food stuffs and manufactures nearly equal to 

 that of all Europe. Agriculture is the real basis of com- 

 mercial development, and improved agricultural machines are 

 fast driving the fear of famine out of the heart of man. 



In the United States, 500,000,000 acres are now under 

 cultivation. There are 74,000,000 acres of swamp lands that 

 can be made available by drainage, and there are 35,000,000 

 acres that can be reclaimed by irrigation. The world's pop- 

 ulation is steadily increasing, and we have already reached 

 the time when it has become imperative to make the fields 

 yield more bountiful harvests in order that the people of 

 every country may be properly supplied with food. 



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28;J0?g 



