THRASHING-MACHINE, 



THRASHING-MACHINE. 



in England ; and it is with this instrument 

 preserving very nearly its original form, by 

 which till very lately the entire growth of corn 

 and seeds in this kingdom were thrashed. 



That the flail may be made thoroughly to 

 effect, though at great cost of labour and time, 

 the purpose of clearing the grain without 

 damage either to the corn or the straw, is a 

 point none will be inclined to dispute. But the 

 disadvantages attending its use are not confined 

 to waste of labour and time ; for, though it may 

 be granted that the operation, if properly per- 

 formed, may be perfect, how difficult it is to 

 secure its proper performance, every agricul- 

 turist whose journeys to his barn have from 

 time to time interrupted his surveys of other 

 not less important agricultural operations, can 

 fully testify. It is evident that the latter part 

 of this operation will require much more la- 

 bour to produce a given quantity than its earlier 

 stages ; and hence the straw is frequently passed 

 away partially thrashed, in order to procure a 

 greater bulk in a given time. Nor are these 

 disadvantages all with which we have to con- 

 tend : constant inspection may, perhaps, to 

 come extent, remedy them ; but no attention 

 will altogether suffice to remove the temptation 

 to pilfer, which is continually presented where 

 large quantities of grain are ever under the 

 eye and in the power of those to whom a small 

 portion is of great importance ; and hence 

 arises, even when undetected, and often indeed 

 when not committed, a cause of painful tempta- 

 tion on the one hand, and injurious suspicion 

 on the other. 



To overcome these evils, prejudicial not 

 only to the true economy of the farm, but to 

 those feelings of confidence which, justly to 

 sustain the social bond, should ever exist in 

 the relation between the labourer and his em- 

 ployer, the attention of our enterprising neigh- 

 bours in Scotland was first directed to the con- 

 struction of machinery; and in 1732, Michael 

 Menzies, a gentleman of East Lothian, invented 

 and patented a machine for thrashing grain. 

 We regret that, as nothing but the bare record 

 of this invention is enrolled in the Patent-office, 

 we have not been able to learn more of this, 

 the germ of thrashing-machine invention, than 

 that it was a contrivance by which a series of 

 flails were made to revolve upon a cylinder ; 

 but we. are pleased to be able in some degree 

 to redeem it from the "condemnation of faint 

 praise," with which we find its memory gene- 

 rally accompanied, by reference to the report 

 of a committee appointed by the Society of 

 improvers in Scotland, to inspect its operation, 

 and determine upon its merits. This com- 

 mittee, after various trials, reported it to be 

 *' their opinion that the machine would be of 

 great use to farmers, both in thrashing the grain 

 clean from the straw and in saving a great deal 

 of labour; for one man would be sufficient to 

 manage a machine which would do the work 

 of six." They further recommended the so- 

 ciety " to give all the encouragement they could 

 to so beneficial an invention, which, being 

 simple and plain in the machinery, might be of 

 universal advantage." The society approved 

 of the report, and acted upon the recommen- 

 dation. 



During the next period of twenty years we 

 are not aware of any other attempts to carry 

 out the object of thrashing by machinery; but 

 in 1753-8, Michael Sterling, a farmer in the 

 parish of Dumblane, Perth, applied the princi- 

 ple of the mill in common use for hulling flax 

 to this purpose. This mill had a vertical shaft, 

 with 4 cross arms enclosed in a cylindrical case, 

 3 feet 6 inches high, and about 8 feet in diameter. 

 The shaft was made to turn at considerable ve- 

 locity, and the sheaves were gradually let down 

 from an opening at the top ; the grain and straw, 

 after being subjected to this beating, were then 

 pressed through an opening in the floor, where 

 rakes and fanners completed the separation of 

 the grain from the straw and chaff. It was, 

 however, found that this machine broke off the 

 ears of barley and wheat instead of clearing 

 them of the grain, and that at best it was only 

 fit for oats. 



It is curious to trace the various plans by 

 which the desideratum of thrashing by ma- 

 chinery was attempted to be accomplished; a 

 few of these we shall venture to bring before 

 our readers, and a slight sketch of them will 

 suffice satisfactorily to show that in following 

 out the principles which distinguish Meikle's 

 machine (hereafter to be mentioned), little of 

 value has been lost to the public of those which 

 have fallen into desuetude. In 1772, two gen- 

 tlemen residing in Northumberland, Alderton 

 and Smart, invented a machine, by which the 

 sheaves were carried round between an in- 

 dented drum of 6 feet diameter and a number 

 of fluted rollers, which, pressing by means of 

 springs against the fluted concave, rubbed out 

 the corn from the ears ; and in 1785, William 

 Winlaw, of Mary-le-bone, patented an invention 

 which he denominated a "mill for separating 

 grain from straw." 



This mill was made on a principle similar 

 to the coffee-mill, but was found to exceed the 

 simple object proposed in the specification, by 

 grinding the grain as well as separating it from 

 the straw. Other machines upon the plan of 

 rubbing out the corn were also tried, but, on 

 account of the damage done to the grain, were 

 liscarded. In addition to the mill invented by 

 Winlaw, a machine was in 1792 patented by 

 Willoughby, of Bedford, Notts, the principle 

 of which appears to have been somewhat simi- 

 lar to that of Menzies ; how nearly so, we regret 

 we have not the opportunity of judging. It 

 comprised a series of loose flails made to act 

 upon a grated floor, and turned rapidly round 

 by means of a horse-wheel. The straw was 

 presented by hand to the action of the flails. 



In 1795, an individual of the name of Jubb, 

 residing at Lewes, obtained a patent for an in- 

 vention of which the principal feature was the 

 passing the straw between two rapidly revolv- 

 ing beaters, under which it was toeld by two 

 feeding rollers, whence the corn fell into a 

 winnowing-machine. 



The inventive talent of the Americans was 

 at this time brought to bear upon this import- 

 ant subject. James Wardrop, of Ampthill, 

 Virginia, invented a machine, which was intro- 

 duced into England about 1796, to be worked 

 by two men ; it was made with flails or elastic 

 rods 12 feet in length, of which 12 were attached 

 4s 2 1037 



