740 



THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. 



BOOK VIII. 



provements, and though it lias often been said that these had reached 

 perfection, yet the application of better mechanical principles, the intro- 

 duction of steel in places where it was not used formerly, and the lessons 

 taught in the past, continue to bear fruit, and since the twelfth edition 

 of " The Complete Grazier " was published, " binders " have come into 

 general use. We place before the reader a few illustrations of machines 

 of good repute, but it is impossible to give all those of the many makers 

 whose implements well deserve the high esteem in which they are held. 

 The first reaping machine to come into at all common use in this 

 country was a ponderous, but effective one brought out by Messrs. 

 Crossbill, of Beverley. It was driven in front of three horses walking 

 abreast, and one of its great advantages was that it could cut its own 

 way into a field of corn without any trampling upon what was uncut. 



Fig. 302. Samuelson's Manual-Delivery Reaper 



It was introduced about 1860, or a little earlier, and was in somewhat 

 common use in some parts of the country in 1862. 



The next machine to come into common use was a one-horse manual 

 back-delivery reaper, named the " Simplex," introduced by Messrs. 

 Samuelson & Co., of Banbury, in 1863. Similar reapers were soon 

 made by other firms, and machines of this type are still used on some 

 small farms. One of them is illustrated in fig. 302. A modification in 

 the form of a self-acting back-delivery reaper is shown in fig. 303. The 

 only reasons for using a back-delivery reaper that can be considered 

 valid are its comparatively low price and its need of only one horse to 

 work it, as the inconvenience of having to tie up the sheaves behind the 

 implement, before its track for a fresh cut is ready, is obvious. If a part 

 is broken or a bolt drops out, all the hands engaged in tying are at a 

 standstill. The work of the man who sweeps the cut corn off the 



