154 



FARM MACHINERY 



217. The header is a machine arranged to cut the stand- 

 ing grain very high, leaving practically all of the straw 

 in the field. The cutting and reeling mechanisms of the 

 header are much like those of the harvester, but the 

 machine differs decidedly in the manner of hitching the 

 teams for propelling it. It is pushed ahead of the horses 

 and guided from the rear by a rudder wheel. The headed 

 grain is carried by canvases up an elevator and deposited 

 in a wagon with a large box drawn along beside the 

 machine. The header usually cuts a wide swath from 10 



FIG. 114 THE MODERN HEADER 



to 20 feet, and requires 4 to 6 horses to operate it. With 

 it, 20 to 40 acres may be harvested in a day. An attach- 

 ment is sometimes placed upon the header to bind the cut 

 grain into bundles, in which case the grain is cut lower. 

 This attachment must necessarily be very highly geared, 

 but does very satisfactory work. A machine with a binder 

 attachment is called a header binder. 



218. The combined harvester and thresher is a thresh- 

 ing machine with a harvesting mechanism at the side 

 which conveys the headed grain from a wide swath di- 

 rectly to the thresher cylinder. , The cutting and ele- 

 vating machinery is much like that of the header, and the 



