THR 



THR 



453 



lour bushels of wheat, or rye ; six 

 of barley, or five of oats, beans, or 

 pease. But Mr. Lisle says, a good 

 thrasher assured hi rp, that twelve 

 bushels ot oats, or barley, are 

 reckoned a good day's thrashing, 

 and five or six bushels of wheal. 

 But no certain rule can be given, 

 by reason of ihe difference in grain. 

 Every one knows that large plump 

 grain is more easil} thrashed, than 

 that which is poor and blighted. 



This work should be performed 

 when the weather is dry, both on 

 account of the ease of the labourer, 

 and the grain itself, which will keep 

 the better afterwards. 



The beards of barley conne off 

 the more easily in thrashing, when 

 the swaths of this corn have taken 

 the dew before it is housed. It 

 often requires much thrashing after 

 it is extricated from the straw. It 

 will keep well in a mow unthrash 

 ed, for a year, or longer. 



Beans and peas always thrash 

 best after sweating in the mow, 

 which they are apt to do. After 

 kiln drying, or drying in the sun, 

 they will keep a long time in the 

 granary, though laid ever so thick. 



Threshing Machines, of vari- 

 ous kinds have been invented 

 and put in use since Mr. Deane 

 wrote. Sir John Sinclair says that 

 the threshing machine is consider- 

 ed to be the most valuable imple- 

 ment that modern times have pro 

 duced, and states the following ad- 

 vantages as resulting from them. 



"• 1. From the superiority of the 

 mode one twentieth part more is 

 gained from the same quantity of 

 straw than by the old fashioned 

 method. *?, The work is done 



much more expeditiously. 3. Pil- 

 fering is avoided. 4. The grain is 

 less subject to injury. 5. Seed 

 corn can be procured without dif- 

 ficulty from the new crops. 6. 

 The market may be supplied with 

 grain more quickly in times of scar- 

 city. 7. The straw, softened by the 

 mill is more useful in feeding cattle. 

 8. If a stack of corn be heated, it 

 may be threshed in a day and the 

 grain preserved from injury. 9. 

 The threshing mill lessons the in- 

 jury from smutty grain; and 10. 

 By the same machine, the grain 

 may be separated from the chaff 

 and small seeds, as well as from the 

 straw. Before the invention of 

 threshing mills, farm servants and 

 labourers endured much drugery ; 

 the large corn farmer sustained 

 much damage from bad threshing; 

 and had much trouble, vexation 

 and loss from careless and wicked 

 servants ; but now, since the intro- 

 duction of this valuable machine, 

 all his difficulties, in these respects 

 are obviated." 



The ILdinburgh Encyclopedia, 

 New York edition, gives a descrip- 

 tion of a threshing machine, invent- 

 ed by Mr. Mickle, which, on a 

 large scale, and driven by water, 

 threshes, fans and cleans wheat, at 

 the rate of sixty bushels an hour. 

 On a smaller scale, worked by two 

 horses and three hands to attend to 

 it, this machine will thresh and 

 clean sixty bushels of wheat, or 

 double that quantity of oats in eight 

 hours. Rollers, or small mill stones 

 are added to many of these ma- 

 chines for crushing or grinding 

 grain. Knives for cutting hay 

 might be added. 



