EEAPiN&MACHiKES.] IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINEET [eeaping machines. 



for these machines has expired in America, and, 

 of course, the attempt to renew it waa violently 

 opposed by all who had, or fancied they had, 

 a better reaper themselves. In the course of 

 the investigation, it came out in evidence that 

 Mr. M'Corraick had sold no less than 40,000 

 of his reapers in the United States alone ; when 

 the patent authorities at "Washington, thinking 

 that, out of such a large transaction, the in- 

 ventor of the machine must himself have 

 reaped a golden harvest of no common weight, 

 declined to renew the patent. Hence Mr. 

 M'Cormick was driven to invent another and a 

 better machine, which has been approved in 

 this country. The old machine, as we may 

 term it now, was one which cut the corn, and, 

 as it dropped back upon the platform behind 

 the cutters, turned it off in " swath" — i. e., 

 left it in a continuous roll alongside the track 

 of the machine. In very moist countries, this 

 swath delivery is rather an evil ; and during 

 wet seasons, the machine has been often left 

 unused altogether. In addition to this draw- 

 back, a great amount of manual labour is, of 

 course, necessitated to collect the swath into 

 sheaves, and this, too, must in some cases be 

 done before the return of the machine over 

 the same track. The object, therefore, has 

 always been to invent a machine which will 

 deliver, on the ground, the cut corn in sheaves 

 ready for binding; and such a machine Mr. 

 M'Corraick has now invented. It is founded 

 entirely on his old machine, as made by Burgess 

 and Key ; the new patent consisting simply in 

 the introduction of an automaton rake, which, 

 at regular intervals, by one rapid sweep, draws 

 the corn on the platform together, and, with a 

 quick turn, throws it aside in a loose sheaf out 

 of the way of the machine. The mechanism by 

 which this is effected is very simple, though, 

 from its very simplicity, it is difficult to give a 

 clear idea of it to the reader. Putting it in its 

 briefest form, we may say that the wheels on 

 which the old machine was drawn along, set in 

 motion a mechanism by which tlie corn was cut 

 close off at the ground, and, at the same time, 

 revolved a light four-armed wooden fan or 

 gleaner, which, as fast as tlie corn fell, pushed 

 it on to the platform. This, in substance, is 

 the old macliine. The new one consists in an 

 addition of the automaton rake, which has two 

 actions. During one part of the revolution of 

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the gathering fans, it acts with and as one of 

 them, till its wooden teeth are level with the 

 platform where the cut corn lies. It then 

 ceases to revolve, and, by a most ingenious 

 piece of mechanism, makes a sudden horizontal 

 movement, throwing aside, on to the ground, 

 the entire sheaf, and instantly after resuming 

 its motion as one of the revolving fans. Thia 

 machine was publicly tried iu the presence of 

 a number of gentlemen farmers, about three 

 miles beyond Hemel-Hempstead. This trial 

 was made under the most unfavourable circum- 

 stances ; in fact, under circumstances which, 

 the farmers present contended, should have 

 prevented the machine from being tried at 

 all. The night and morning had been very 

 wet, and the rain was still falling, when the 

 machine, drawn by two horses, and wielding 

 its fans and rake in the most aggressive man- 

 ner, was brought to a field of twenty-one 

 acres, covered with a heavy crop of red laramas 

 wheat, completely saturated and bent down by 

 the wet. Along the edge of this field, where 

 the ground was very rough, and the corn 

 straggling and beaten down, the machine was 

 turned. Much misgiving was expressed, before 

 starting, as to the power of the rake to act on 

 such ground against wind and rain, and to re- 

 move the soddened crop from the platform 

 into regular sheaves. A very few moments^ 

 however, sufficed to put these fears at rest. 

 The reaper went to its work about three 

 miles an hour, making a clear cut broad track 

 of 5 ft. G in. wide, and turning out neat and 

 remarkably large loose sheaves, at intervals of 

 about 15 ft. apart. The movements of the 

 reaper were exact and perfectly noiseless, aiid 

 it was easily turned in any direction. An 

 ordinary agricultural labourer at first drove it. 

 Afterwards Mr. Dixon took the place of 

 driver ; but the results were the same. The 

 bunches were well laid ; the cut was clean and 

 close to the earth ; and the spacing between 

 the sheaves as clear and accurate as if every 

 foot had been measured. At one part the corn 

 was tangled, and badly flattened — badly enough 

 to have presented difficulties to the ordinary 

 reaper ; but the machine went through it with 

 the same ease and regularity as through all 

 the rest. The horses were tlien turned direct 

 and across the thickest part of the crop, from 

 corner to corner of the field ; and thougli, as a 



