REAPING MACHINE. 



RED-ROOT. 



Different attempts have been made to construct 

 machines, so as to despatch the svork in a rapid 

 manner by the assistance of hcrse labour, but 

 the success with which they have been attended 

 in England has hitherto been far from com- 

 plete. 



Many contrivances have also, of late years, 

 been resorted to for supplying the place of the 

 reaping-hook, but hitherto none have proved 

 effectual, nor are the difficulties arising from 

 roughness and irregularity of surface likely 

 soon to be surmounted. No one will dispute 

 the great utility and advantages of an efficient 

 reaping machine, if it could be carried into 

 operation, as these advantages are universally 

 acknowledged. In England, such an imple- 

 ment is the more required now that the agri- 

 cultural labourers are greatly reduced in num- 

 ber by emigration, and harvest work has be- 

 come more expensive. There is now a much 

 greater quantity of corn to cut down, and most 

 of the grain ripens about the same period. In 

 1815, Mr. Smith, of Deanston, invented a reap- 

 ing machine, which, in some experimental 

 trials, appeared to perform its work exceed- 

 ingly well; but, upon longer trial, it has not 

 answered the favourable expectation formed of 

 it. Since that period, another invention of a 

 similar nature, by Mr. Patrick Bell, has at- 

 tracted considerable attention, but does not ap- 

 pear to be of sufficient merit to have come into 

 general use. The original cost of these ma- 

 ch nit's, 40/. or 50/., must, in many instances, 

 preclude their employment. 



An excellent article on the advantages of a 

 reaping machine will be found in the first 

 volume of the ({tnirt. Jonrn. o/V/irr. p. 137; and 

 Mr. Hell's machine is figured and described at 

 p. 217 of the same volume. 



American ingenuity has been active in the 

 invention of machines for harvesting wheat 

 and other grains. Among those which have 

 been brought into the field, " Wilson's Moitring 

 Machine, or dross ami drain Cutter," is highly 

 commended by some who have tried it. It has 

 been most in use along the Hudson river, and 

 is considered an improvement of Smith's Eng- 

 lish reaping machine. 



But the machine that is perhaps best entitled 

 to the notice of farmers, is the one invented 

 by Obed Hussey, which is recommended for 

 its simplicity, durability, and the great regu- 

 larity and cleanness with which it performs its 

 work. Even when the grain is too much 

 lodged to be cradled, it will cut at the rate of 

 two acres per hour, nearly as clean as if it had 

 been standing. It can be adapted to the ine- 

 qualities of the surface of a field, and has been 

 so improved by its original inventor as to ope- 

 rate with great facility on stony land. This 

 machine has received the most unqualified ap- 

 probation of nearlv all farmers who have tried 

 it, or witnessed its operation. The Board of. 

 Trustees of the Agricultural Society for the 

 Eastern Shore of Maryland, in their Report, 

 made in 1836, say, "We deem it a simple, 

 strong, and effective machine, and take much 

 pleasure in awarding unanimously the meri- 

 torious inventor of it (Mr. O. Hussey) a hand- 

 pair of silver cups." 



The committee appointed by the Philadel- 

 119 



phia Society for Promoting Agriculture, to su- 

 perintend the operation of Mr. Hussey's ma- 

 chine, make a very favourable report, recom- 

 mending it to the attention of the society and 

 the agricultural community generally. They 

 state that it was put in operation in a piece of 

 several acres of heavy wheat, considerably 

 lodged, and, contrary to their expectations, it 

 performed remarkably well. 



"The committee estimate the ordinary per- 

 formance of the machine at from ten to twelve 

 acres per day ; although they fully believe, that 

 on an emergency, it would accomplish twice 

 this amount of work. In confirmation of this 

 they would state, that it cut, on this occasion, 

 630 square yards in 2 minutes, doing its work 

 in the most perfect manner." The cost of the 

 machine is $150. (See Farmer's Cabinet, vols. 

 ii. and Hi., Cultivator, and other American agri- 

 cultural periodicals.) 



M'Cormick's Reaping Machine is used in Vir- 

 ginia, and spoken of very favourably by the 

 editor of the Southern Planter, who has furnish 

 ed a cut and explanation of it in the number 

 of that excellent periodical for January, 1843. 

 It is said to cut 15 acres per day without leav- 

 ing a single stalk in the field, and some think 

 the wheat saved in harvesting a large crop will 

 more than repay the first cost of the machine. 

 It weighs about 600 Ibs., rests upon two wheejs, 

 and is drawn forward by two horses. The cost 

 of the machine is $100. 



In the preceding account, reference has only 

 been made to the pioneer inventions which 

 wore the first to fully demonstrate the practi- 

 cability of harvesting grain and hay crops by 

 the use of machinery driven by horse-power. 

 Several efforts had boon made 'in Kn^l.-nul to 

 effect, this desirable object, and those by Mr. 

 Smith and Patrick Bell have been referred to. 

 But these only obtained partial success, and 

 it was not till American ingenuity wa.s brought 

 to bear upon the subject that tin- practicabil- 

 ity of reaping and mowing by machinery was 

 established as a perfect success. Since the 

 first favourable reports made hy Ameriran 

 Agricultural societies of Hussey's and McCor- 

 maek's machines, these and others have re- 

 ceived improvements, until at present there 

 appears to be little, if anything, left to desire. 



Other labour-saving contrivances for har- 

 vesting grain have been invented in the United 

 States of late years, descriptions of which may 

 be found in various agricultural periodicals. 



RED BAY (Laurus Caroliniensif,). An Ameri- 

 can species of the laurus genus found in the 

 Southern States. (See Michaux's North Ameri- 

 om S//iv, vol. ii. p. 150.) 



RED BUD. See JUDAS THEE. 



RED GUM. A disease of grain, a kind of 

 blight. See BLIGHT. 



RED-ROOT (Lithospermum arvanse). Sit-ne- 

 weed. A worthless plant which has been n. 

 troduced into the United States, where it has 

 spread itself extensively, especially in some 

 i parts of New York, where it is considered even 

 a worse pest of the fields than the Canada 

 thistle. Dr. Darlington describes the plant as 

 being hispid, or beset with bristle-like and 

 rather short hairs; the roof annual; stem 12 to 

 18 inches high, generally much branched from 



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