THRASHING-MACHINE. 



THRASHING-MACHINE. 



in series, each having a spring requiring a 

 power of 20 pounds to raise it 3 feet high at 

 the point; a wallower shaft, with catches or 

 teeth, in its revolution successively lifted each 

 flail in alternate movements, so that three of 

 the flails were operated upon by the whole 

 powef, viz., 20 pounds. The flails beat upon a 

 grating to which the corn is introduced by hand 



In 1785, Andrew Meikle, an ingenious me- 

 chanic of Tyningham, East Lothian, first in- 

 troduced to the public, through the medium of 

 a gentleman of the name of Stein, of Kilbogie, 

 the invention whose principle has been the 

 basis upon which the machines in use in Bri- 

 tain up to the present time have been mainly 

 constructed. It appears that, his attention 

 having been long turned to the subject, he dis- 

 covered that the plan of rubbing would never 

 be otherwise than attended with the disadvan- 

 tage before alluded to; and his son George 

 agreed with the gentleman above named to 

 erect a perfect machine, and in 1786 he com 

 pleted the first that was ever made, adopting 

 the plan of introducing between two rollers the 

 corn, which was then thrashed out by four 

 beaters fixed upon a revolving drum, each 

 striking, as it revolved, the corn held between 

 the rollers. The machine alluded to was 

 erected, and found to work exceedingly well. 

 A patent was accordingly applied for, and, 

 after some opposition from a party not con- 

 cerned in the invention, obtained. 



In the trials between the erection of the ori- 

 ginal machine and the obtaining the patent, a 

 new principle appears to have suggested itself, 

 viz., that of stripping off the corn from the ear 

 by a comparatively sharp edge, or, as termed 

 by him, " scutching out the grain," instead of 

 beating it by a flat surface. The difference has 

 been partially illustrated by supposing a hand- 

 ful of straw with the corn in the ear to be held 

 in the hand, while with the flat sides of a two- 

 feet rule the ears should be struck or beaten ; 

 this is the operation of the common beater. If, 

 instead of striking the ears with the flat side, a 

 sharp blow be given with the thin edge of the 

 rule in the direction of the ear where the rule 

 touches, it will strip the corn from the ear with 

 less labour and with greater certainty. This 

 may be called the scutching principle to which 

 Meikle's beaters in his patent were applied. 



It will not be uninteresting to learn, upon the 

 authority of Sir John Sinclair, " that the invent- 

 or of this important machine was rendered 

 comfortable in his old age, and enabled to pro- 

 vide for his family after his death, by the vo- 

 luntary donations of his grateful countrymen." 

 Not less gratifying is the testimony of Pro- 

 fessor Low, in his admirable treatise on the 

 Elements of Practical Agriculture, that " to An- 

 drew Meikle, beyond a question, belongs the 

 honour of having perfected the thrashing-ma- 

 chine. Changes and improvements have in- 

 deed been made on certain parts of the original 

 machine ; but in all its essential parts, and in 

 the principle of its construction, it remains as 

 it came from the hands of its inventor." 



By the drawings and specification of Meikle's 



machine, it appears that, at the time of taking 



out this patent, the plan of shaking the straw 



by means of circular rakes had not been sug- 



1038 



gested; and in the report drawn up for the 

 consideration of the " Board of Agriculture" 

 for the county of Northumberland, we find that,, 

 in 1789, the first machine having a circular 

 rake attached, and with fanners below, to per- 

 fect the cleaning of the grain, was erected. Al- 

 though it is not there stated, we have good 

 reason to believe that this important improve- 

 ment, occasioning the addition of but one light 

 wheel to the machine, was the invention of J. 

 Bailey, the enterprising occupier of Chilling- 

 ham, one of the gentlemen appointed to draw 

 up the report alluded to. 



We have thus far traced carefully, and, we 

 trust, correctly, the progress of the invention 

 of the thrashing-machine used in Scotland, till 

 it has arrived at very nearly its present perfec- 

 tion. Various combinations of mechanical 

 powers, and many contrivances, have doubt- 

 less been since added to produce particular 

 effects, which have progressively tended to its 

 improvement and ultimate perfection. 



It will be difficult, within the limits to which 

 this article must necessarily be confined, to 

 enter minutely into detail, or adequately to set 

 forth the merits of the various inventions and 

 improvements on this machine, for which in 

 the course of the last half-century no fewer 

 than 25 patents have been obtained; besides 

 several awards from the Bath and West of 

 England Society and the Society of Arts. But 

 we should do injustice to the subject, did we 

 not here mention the name of Lester, whose 

 mechanical talent and skill as an engineer 

 have not a little contributed to the establish- 

 ment of a higher style of excellence in agri- 

 cultural mechanics than was coincident with 

 the then taste of the age in that much neg- 

 lected department. 



The machines now in general use through- 

 out the eastern counties of England are, with 

 few exceptions, portable. They are frequently 

 the property of individuals who, itinerating 

 from farm to farm, thrash at a certain price per 

 quarter; the farmer finding horses, and, with 

 the exception of the proprietor, who feeds the 

 machine, the necessary complement of men. 

 They are simply thrashing instruments, having 

 neither circular rakes nor fanners attached. 

 The beaters, 4, 5, or 6 in number, are so placed 

 round the drum that their beating edge shall 

 radiate from the centre. These strike upon the 

 straw, which is passed along a feeding-board 

 placed at an inclination of about 30, tending 

 to a point equidistant from the centre and 

 upper part of the circumference of the drum* 

 The concave describes the third part of a cir- 

 cle, and is formed alternately of iron ribs and 

 open wire-work in segments, so placed that its 

 inner surface may be brought into near contact 

 with the edges of the revolving beaters, and 

 susceptible of adjustments by screws to in- 

 crease or diminish the distance. The usual 

 plan is to place it with about ^ of an inch 

 space at the feeding part, and gradually to 

 increase the distance to U or 2 inches at the 

 lower end, where the. straw is delivered upon a 

 fixed harp or riddle, through which such part 

 of the grain as is not driven through the wired 

 part of the concave falls, while the straw is re- 

 moved by forks. 



