154 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



a large acreage, 

 part of it spoil- 

 ed before he 

 could harvest 

 it, and there 

 was no incen- 

 tive to grow 

 larger crops. 



A farmer so 

 situated was 

 not interested 

 in t h r e shing 

 machines. He 

 could poun d 

 out his small 

 crop with flails, 

 or tread it out 

 with horses 

 during the 

 winter when he 

 had little else 

 to do. Conse- 

 quently, no in- 

 ventor was en- 

 c o u r a ged to 

 make a thresh- 

 i n g machine, 

 and there was none worth the name till later years. 



The invention of the reaper opened the door to nearly 

 everything else in the agricultural implement line, for 

 one thing led to another. It happened that railroads 

 began to be built the time the reaper was invented, and 

 this provided means for carrying wheat to market, and 



A PALESTINE THRESHING FLOOR 



Exactly as used in David's time, 3,000 years ago, a flat rock, near the supposed site of Oman's floor. 

 Scripture commands that oxen tramping out the grain shall not be muzzled, but these are. We learn 

 here by contrast. Compare this crude method with that shown in an accompanying picture where a 

 machine is doing the work. Photograph by courtesy of the International Han-ester Company, Chicago. 



farmers in re- 

 mote localities, 

 if near rail- 

 roads, were en- 

 c o u r a ged to 

 grow wheat. 

 Before that 

 time, grain 

 went to market 

 in wagons and 

 could not go 

 far, or it went 

 by boats on 

 rivers, and 

 navigable 

 streams were 

 remote from 

 many regions 

 suit able for 

 wheat growing. 

 The reaper and 

 the rail road 

 solved the 

 wheat problem, 

 and the neces- 

 sity for farm 

 machinery led 

 to inventions for planting and harvesting the crops. 

 Wheat has been here spoken of in some detail, not 

 because it was the only farm crop, but because it stands in 

 a measure for all. Its history is much like the history of 

 other farm crops which began to increase rapidly about 

 the same time. The invention of serviceable farm 



THRESHING MACHINE AT WORK 



Fifty yoke of oxen, as shown in the accompanying picture, could not tramp out as much grain as this one machine, and the machine's work is 

 better and more sanitary. A man can scarcely sew the sacks of grain as fast as they are filled. Man is the only animal at work here. Photo- 

 graph by courtesy of the International Harvester Company, Chicago. 



