138 



FARM MACHINERY 



reached a stage where they were practical until the eighteenth 

 century. Pliny describes a machine used early in the first cen- 

 tury which stripped the heads of grain from the stalk. The 

 machine consisted of a box mounted upon two wheels, with 

 teeth to engage the grain at the front end. It was pushed in 

 front of an animal yoked behind it. The grain was raked into 

 the box by the attendant as the machine was moved along. It 

 is further stated that it was necessary to go over the same areas 

 several times. 



186. English development. There were several attempts at 

 the design of a reaping machine before 1806, but none were suc- 

 cessful. They need not be considered in this discussion. It was 

 in 1806 that Gladstone invented a machine which added many 

 new ideas. In his machine the horse walked to the side of the 

 grain, and hence the introduction of the side cut. It had a 

 revolving cutter and a crude form of guard. It did, however, 

 have a new idea in an inside and- outside divider. The grain fell 

 upon a platform and was cleared occasionally with a hand rake. 

 As a whole, this machine was not successful. 



In 1808 Mr. Salmon, of Woburn. invented the reciprocating 

 cutter, which acted over a row of stationary blades. This 

 machine combined reciprocating and advancing motion for the 

 first time. The delivery of the grain 

 was unique in the fact that a vertical 

 rake actuated by a crank swept the 

 grain from the platform upon which 

 the grain fell after being cut. 



In 1822, Henry Ogle, a school- 

 master of Remington, in connection 

 with a mechanic by the name of 

 Brown, designed and built a machine 

 which is worthy of mention. The 

 use of a reciprocating knife had been 

 hinted at by Salmon, but Ogle made 

 it a success. This machine also had 



FIG. 105-OGLE's REAPING the first reel used and was provided 

 MACHINE (ENGLAND, 1822) with a dropper. Accounts are not 

 specific, but it is thought that the 

 operator for the first time rode upon a seat. 



The next machine was the most successful up to that time 

 (1826). Patrick Bell, a minister of Cannyville, Forfarshire, has 



