INTRODUCTION. 



The DeorinsT Harvester Company, CMiicaiio, I'. S. A., was nomi- 

 nated in I'aris in the autumn of IS'ts to the French authorities, bv the 

 American Commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 1900, the Hc^n. 

 P^erdinand W. Peck, as having; been selected by him as the proper one 

 to make the retrospective and historical exliibition of the art of manu- 

 facturing" harvesting' machinery. The nomination was confirmed by 

 the French authorities, and the exhibit was assig-ned space by Mr. 

 Charles Kichards l)odg;e. Director of Agriculture of the American 

 Commission, in the American section of the Palace of Ag-riculture, 

 where it will be found. 



This book is an account of the exhibit, and shows the manner in 

 which the Deering; Harvester Company has carried out the responsi- 

 bility entrusted to it. This work has been one of infinite labor and 

 pains. Every record that could be found has been consulted, and 

 every existing" American manufacturer of harvesting" machinery has 

 seen and ai)proved the mtxlels of machines made by him and his pred- 

 ecessors. 



The illustrations in the book are photog^raphed from the models 

 themselves. The numbers on the illustrations and in the text corre- 

 s])ond to the numbers on the irtodels in the exhibit. 



INTRODUCTION. 



La Deering- Harvester Company de Chicago, E. U. d'A., fut pre- 

 sentee aux autorites francaises a i'aris, en automne 1S*>S, par le com- 

 missaire americain de rExjwsition de Paris de 1900, I'Hon. Ferdinand 

 W. Peck, comme 6tant la mieux i\ menie de faire une exposition 

 retrospective et historique de I'art de la construction des machines it 

 recolter. Ce choix fut confirme par les autorites fran^-aises et 

 Mr. Charles Richards Dodge, directeur du dcpartement de rAg"ricul- 

 ture de la Commission americaine, donna k cette exposition une 

 I)lace dans la section americaine du Palais de TAgriculture. 



Ce livre donne un ai)ercu de cette exposition et montre la maniere 

 dont la Deering- Harvester Company a acc<»mi>li la tache (jui lui a ete 

 contiee. L'ouvrag"e a donne lieu a d'ardents travaux et de multiples 

 recherches. Toutes les archives, (jui pouvaient etre trouvees, ont ete 

 consultees et chacun des fabricants americains d'instruments de 

 rccolte, existant encore aujourd'hui, a vu et approuve les niodeles des 

 machines faites par lui ou par ses predccesseurs. 



Les illustratif)ns dans ce livre sont des ])hotog"ra])hies prises de- 

 modeles memes. Les numeros des illustrations et ceux du texte cor. 

 respondent aux numeros trouves sur les modeles dans I'exposition. 



