426 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II. 



the machine ; and, in appearance, they push the machine before them, but, in reality, they are drawing 

 the same as in the plough, rf is a small rod of wood, or helm, which the driver holds in his right hand, by 

 the pulling of which to him, or pushing it from him, he conducts the machine straight forward. The 

 dotted lines in the plate are a continuation of the pole with the swingletrees and helm attached. The 

 machine is turned, at the end of the ridge, by the following contrivance : The two wheels <?e, in the body 

 of the machine, are joined to the lever / by an upright movable axle. These wheels are similar to the two 

 (c c) on the front of the frame : they have a strong iron axle, which is made so long as to let the wheels 

 conveniently turn between the crank-rod (k) and the frame of the machine. In order that this piece of the 

 apparatus may be used with advantage, the beveled wheel i is not placed upon the middle of the main 

 axle (d), but about one foot from the end of it, as is seen in the engraving. This throws the crank-rod (k) 

 nearer the side of the machine, thus leaving plenty of space for the turning apparatus. In the middle of 

 the horizontal axle of the wheels e e there is an upright standard of iron, suthciently strong, and firmly 

 joined to the horizontal axle. This upright standard or axle passes through the middle of the lever / 

 (which is of wood, and, at this part, about five inches square), about twenty inches from the end of it. 

 Upon the top of the upright standard there is placed a segment of a wheel (?), with the teeth on the lower 

 side, which is worked by a small pinion of six teeth upon the end of the roAg. This pinion is not 

 seen in the engraving, as it is completely concealed by the segment i. The rod g, and the small pinion 

 upon it, are turned round by the handle h -, the pinion moves the segment i, which, being firmly fixed to 

 the upright standard, turns the small wheels e e either way. When the machine is cutting, the wheels ee 

 are put parallel to the cutters j and in this position they assist the machine in passing a furrow, without 

 allowing the cutters to come m contact with the opposite side of it. But when the machine is to be 

 turned round, they are turned, with an angle to the path of the machine, by the handle h ; and the rod 

 g being fixed in that position by a screw near the handle, the lever is then pressed down, and fixed with 

 a catch to the frame of the machine. In pressing down the lever /, the small wheels ee, which before 

 were about two inches from the ground, are pressed to the earth, about two or three inches below the 

 natural level of the machine. Of course, the two front wheels (c c) are lifted two or three inches from the 

 ground, and the cutters considerably more, thus insuring them from accident while turning round. The 

 machine now rests upon the two large wheels b b, and the two small ones ee of the lever; and the two 

 front wheels (c c) go for nothing, as they do not touch the ground. But the axle of the small wheels e e 

 being placed with an angle to the main axle (d) of the large wheels b b, the machine will naturally turn 

 round upon the horses being moved slowly forward : of course, the greater the angle formed by the two 

 axles, the less space will the machine require to turn upon. In turning the machine, however, attention 

 must always be given to disengage the large wheels b b from the main axle (d) : this is done by shifting 

 the coupling boxes ee by means of the handles h h. The apparatus //, or collector, is placed exactly 

 above the cutters : it is 2| feet in diameter, made of wood, as slight as may be. The supports k k, in 

 the original machine, were made of iron ; but now the two side-beams of the machine are made of a piece 

 of wood, with a natural cast upon it, similar to the beam of a plough, but rising with a much greater angle, 

 as near the form of the iron supports in the plate as possible, and continued horizontally till their points 

 are exactly above the movable bar oo. The points p p are made of iron, bent as in the plate, to allow the 

 collector (/ /) to turn round. At qqqq are strong iron screws, working in nuts placed in the wooden part 

 of the supports, which serve the double purpose of uniting the iron part to the wood, and allowing it to 

 be drawn forward, or pushed backward, as occasion may be, by either shifting to another hole, or, which 

 is better, by long slips in the middle of the bar. Long corn requires the collector to be placed forward, 

 and short corn requires it to be taken back. At o o are two perpendicular rods, which slip in holes in the 

 points of the supports ; by the moving of which, upwards or downwards, the collector (/ /,) which turns in 

 sockets in the lower ends of these rods, is lowered, or heightened, according to the length of the corn to 

 be cut The rods are fixed in their places by screws in the end of the supports. The collector is turned by 

 a cross belt, or chain, passing over the two pulleys tn n. A piece of slight canvass is put round the rollers 

 Y z, fixed to the chains a a, as before described. The lower ends of the rollers have a shield of plate iron 

 round their gudgeons, to prevent the cut corn from warping, which it does effectually. The bushes of the 

 roller z are made to shift by screws, to tighten the chains a little, to prevent them from slipping the pulleys, 

 as they lengthen a little by using, especially when new. Fig. 376 is a representation of the machine in 

 full operation. About six or eight yards of the field require to be cut at the ends to allow the macliine 

 to turn without injuring the corn, which may be done by the machine itself If the corn is standing 

 nearly upright, a convenient number of ridges may be taken in and cut by going round them ; but if the 

 corn is standing, and the field free from deep furrows, it may be cut by going round and round it till it 

 is finished in the middle. One man, as seen in the plate, is sufficient to manage the whole operation. The 

 cutting, collecting, and laying are the three principal parts of this machine, which have been all, more or 

 less, explained in the general description given above. But as they are particular, a few words on each of 

 these heads may still be necessary, that the machine may be completely understood in all its bearings. First, 

 then, with regard to the cutting : it is desirable that the machine should do her work, and nothing more. 

 If the motion of the cutters were too slow, she would not clear the ground ; and if it were too quick, there 

 would be a useless expenditure of power and machinery. Let it be remembered that the large outer wheels 

 B B are 3| feet in diameter ; that the beveled wheel i has sixty teeth ; and that the crank-rod pinion has ten ; 

 and that the cutters have twelve inches of a cutting edge. The diameter of the wheels b b being 3i feet or 

 forty-two inches, their circumferences are 13194678 inches; every revolution of them will pass over 

 nearly 132 inches of the ground's surface ; but there being ten teeth in the crank-rod pinion, and sixty in 

 the beveled wheel i, every revolution of the wheels bb will turn the crank-pinion six times, and, of course, 

 the crank as often. But every turn of the crank.pinion gives two cuts, and each stroke of the cutters 

 clears twelve inches of the ground, because they have twelve inches of a cutting edge : therefore, one 

 revolution of the wheels b b gives twelve strokes of the cutters, and clears twelve times twelve, or 144 

 inches of the surface of the ground. But one revolution of bb passes only over 132 inches of surface ; 

 therefore, the cutters are calculated to cut, in one revolution of bb, twelve inches more than enough, 

 that is, one inch each stroke. This, however, is perhaps nothing more than is advisable to calculate 

 upon, making allowances for the operation of the machinery, the partial dragging of the wheels, &c. &c. 

 Secondly, the collector (Z I) must not move too slowly, lest it should retard the corn from falling upon the 

 canvass ; and it must not move too quickly, lest it should shake ripe grain. As before stated, it is 2| feet 

 in diameter, that is, 94 2477 inches in circumference. But one revolution of B b passes over 132 inches of 

 surface ; therefore, that the collector {I I) may just touch the corn, without bringing it back, or retarding 

 it from naturally falling back, it must make 14 revolution for every one that bb makes Since there are 

 six arms in //, every arm will touch the standing corn at equal distances of 15'7 inches. The pulley m 

 makes six revolutions for one that bb makes : it is six inches in diameter, and the pulley n, upon the axle 

 of II, is nine inches ; therefore m revolves IS times fbr once that n turns round, and the collector (11) re- 

 volves four times for once that the large wheels b b revolve. But 4 x 94'2477 = 37699 inches, the space 

 passed through by the circumference of the collector, while the machine moves forward only 132; the 

 difference of which is 244 99, the space that the collector passes over more than the machine, during one 

 revolution of bb. Therefore, every inch of the corn is brought back 154 inch nearly, by the collector, 

 which is suflScient to insure its falling backwards upon the canvass ; and yet it touches the corn so gently, 

 that it is impossible that it can injure it in the smallest degree. A quicker and a slower motion, however, 

 is advisable ; which is easily given, by having two or three sheaves upon the pulleys m and n ; and then, 

 by shirting the belt, a different motion is produced. With regard to the canvass, it is necessary that it 

 should revolve as much as the ground passed over by the machine ; that is, while the wheels b b make one 

 revolution, or pass over 132 inches of the surface, 132 inches at least of canvass should pass over the rollers. 

 w, as before stated, has thirty-six teeth, and x eighteen, so that the roller y will give two revolutions for 



