INVENTION OF KKAl'lNU MACHINES. 21 



familiar with most of the important impro\-cments of the age; — 

 of all in fact, directly connected with agriculture in its labour saving 

 implements, of any notoriety. 



Many alleged improvements have been made in the Reaper in the 

 past 10 or 12 years; and man\- more still, within half that period. 

 How far they are /wz^' inventions, and actual Duprovcmcnts, we can 

 better judge by examining Ilussey's patent; for it describes the cutting 

 apparatus clearl)' and minutely, and which in fact is the whole thing, — 

 the " one thing needful " to success. For the use of wheels, or a system 

 of gearing to all kinds of moti\'e machinery is coeval with the first 

 dawn of mechanical science. How ancient we know not, for the 

 Prophets of old spoke of " wheels within wheels " near three thousand 

 years ago; and it is very certain the hand of man, unaided by wheels 

 and machinery, never erected the vast Pyramids and other structures 

 of antic]uity. We do not believe there is a single Reaping and Mowing 

 machine in successful operation on this continent that is not mainly 

 indebted to Hussey's invention in the cutting apparatus, for its success: 

 deprive them of this essential feature — disrobe them of their borrowed 

 plumes, and their success would be like the flight of the eagle, suddenly 

 bereft of his pinions, — he must fall; and the machines would stand 

 still, for not a farmer in the land would use them. 



As previously remarked, O. Hussey's first patent is dated in 1833. 

 We omit the more general description of the machine, and copy only 

 what embraces the most important features, the guards and knives: 

 also an extract from his improvement patented in 1S47, to obviate 

 choking in the guards: 



"On the front edge of the platform is fixed the cutting or reaping apparatus, 

 which is constructed in the following manner: — A series of iron spikes, and which 

 I will c^W s;uards, are tixed permanently to the platform, and extend seven or eight 

 inches, more or less, beyond the edge of the platform, parallel to each other, 

 horizontal, and pointing forward. — These guards are about three inches apart, 

 of a suitable size, say three-quarters of an inch square, more or less, at the base, 

 and lessening towards the point. The guards are formed of a toj^ and bottom piece, 

 joined at the point and near the hack, being r.early parallel, and about one-eiixhth 

 of an inch apart, forming a horizontal mortice or slit through the guard; these 

 mortices being on a line with each other, form a continued range of openings 

 or slits through the guards. The first guard is placed on the rear of the right 

 wheel, and the last at the extreme end of the platform, and the intermediate guards 

 at equal distances from each other, and three inches apart, mure or less, from center 

 to center. 



The cutter or saw, f, is formed of thin triangular plates of steel fastened 

 to a straight flat rod, e. of steel, iron or wood, one-inch and a-half wide; these 

 steel plates are arranged side by side, forming a kind of saw with teeth three inches 

 at the base, and four and a half inches long, more or less, sharp on both sides, 

 and terminating nearly in a point. The saw is then passed through all the guards 

 in the aforesaid range of mortices, the size of the mortice being suited to receive 

 the saw with the teeth pointing forward; observing always that the jioints of the 

 saw teeth should correspond with the center of the guards. One end of the saw 

 is connected with a pitman moved by a crank, and receiving its motion from the 

 main axis, by one or two sets of cog wheels. The vibration of this crank must 

 be etjual to the distances of the centers of the guards, or the points of the saw teeth, 

 or thereabouts, so when the machine is in motion, the point of each saw tooth may 

 pass from center to center of the guards on each side of the same tooth at every 

 vibration of the crank; if the main wheels are three feet four inches in diameter, 



