CHAPTER IX 



FEEDING THE SEPARATOR 



r ^HE importance of having a separator properly fed 

 is less realized at present than in the old days when 

 all machines were fed by hand and the power was 

 furnished by horses. Then it was evident that some men 

 could feed more grain to a threshing cylinder in a given 

 period, at the same time letting the horses do their work 

 easier, than others less skilled in the art of feeding. To- 

 day, as in the past, to get the best results from a separator, 

 it must be fed so that the cylinder maintains a uniform 

 speed. 



Feeding by Hand. To become a good hand feeder, con- 

 siderable experience and practice are required. A good 

 feeder tips his bundles well up against the cylinder cap, 

 turning flat bundles up on edge, and always holding them 

 from the under-side so that the cylinder may take from the 

 top. But a slight movement is necessary to spread a 

 bundle, and in fast threshing, feeding from both sides, each 

 bundle should be fed almost entirely on its own side, keep- 

 ing the cylinder full its entire width and having each 

 bundle in position before the last of the preceding bundle 

 has passed into the cylinder. A good feeder will keep 



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