28 BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE 



implement will show that it is admirably adapted to the important 

 purpose for which it was invented. Resting on two wheels which are 

 permanently attached to the machine and impart the motion to the 

 whole, the main body of the machine is drawn by the horses along the 

 outer edge of the standing grain. As the horses travel on the outside 

 of the gr'ain, it is neither\nocked down or tangled in the slightest 

 degree. Behind the wheels is a platform, (supported by a roller or 

 wheel. ) which projects beyond the side of the machine five feet into 

 the grain. On the front of the edge projecting part of the platform is 

 the cutter. This is composed of twenty-one teeth resembling large 

 lancet blades, which are placed side by side and firmly rivetted to a rod 

 of iron. A lateral motion is imparted to it by a crank, causing it 

 to vibrate between two rows of iron spikes, which point forward. As 

 the machine advances the grain is cut and falls backwards on the plat- 

 form where it collects in a pile. A man is placed on the part of the 

 platform directly behind the horses, and with a rake of peculiar con- 

 struction, pushes off the grain in separate bunches, each bunch mak- 

 ing a sheaf. It may appear to some that the grain will accumulate too 

 rapidly for this man to perform his duty. But upon considering the 

 difference between the space occupied by the grain when standing 

 and when lying in a pile after it is cut, it will be evident that the raker 

 has ample time to push off the. bunches even in the thickest grain. In 

 thin grain he has to wait until sufficient has collected to form a sheaf. 



The machine is driven around the grain, which may be sown 

 either on a smooth surface or on corn ridges. For the first round a 

 way may be cleared with a cradle; but this is deemed unnecessary, for 

 the grain when driven over, is left in an inclined position, and by cut- 

 ting in the opposite direction as much of it is saved as with a cradle. 

 Fourteen acres in corn lands were cut between lo A. M., and 7% P.^ M. 

 The hands had never worked with the machine before, nor was it a 

 trial day's work For owing to the shortness of the straw, the machine 

 was not allowed to cut when passing over the ridges from one side of 

 the ground to the other, and this time was consequently lost. From 

 the principle on which the cutting is performed, a keen edge to the 

 cutter is by no means essential. The toughest weeds, an occasional 

 corn stalk or a stick of the thickness of a man's little finger, have been 

 frequently cut without at all affecting its operation; it can be sharp- 

 ened, however, in a few minutes with a file. The width of the swath 

 may be increased by having the cutter made longer, and the same 

 machine will cut a stubble of several different heights. 



There is ample room to make the different parts of any size, 

 though the strength of every part has been fully tested. The machine 

 has been often choked by oyster-shells getting into the cutter, in 

 attempting to cut too low a stubble. The motion of the machinery 

 being checked, the main wheels slide on the ground; the strain on 

 every part being equal to the power exerted by the horses. It can be 

 managed by any intelligent careful negro. We deem it a simple, 

 strong, and effective machine, and take much pleasure in awarding 



