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PART III. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE, 



Art. I. General Notices. 



Bell's Reaping Machine, {figs. 55, 56.) — Sir, At your request, I now 

 set myself down to draw up a description of the reaping machine for your 

 Encyclopaedia of Agriculture. The difficulty of making such an implement 

 thoroughly understood, from a plate and description, by the ordinary reader, 

 is, if possible, very great ; but, to the intelligent and to the aspiring mechanic, 

 I flatter myself that, by minuteness and order in the delineation, the principal 

 features of the machine shall be sufficiently developed so as to give an accurate 

 idea of its principle, and of the strength of material sufficient to apply that 

 principle to practice. In certain pieces of machinery, such as the threshing 

 machine, it is customary to draw it without the necessary frame-work ; and, 

 in such engines, that is, doubtless, the preferable way : but in such an imple- 

 ment as the reaping machine, the frame constitutes no inconsiderable part, 

 and, without it, the drawing would be both ludicrous and unintelligible. 

 Therefore, although the numerous beams in the frame unavoidably create a 

 considerable confusion in the drawing, and conceal, almost or entirely, from 

 the view of the reader, some of the important parts of the machine, I con- 

 sider it the better way to insert them, making the concealed parts as intelli- 

 gible as possible by minute description. Without further preamble, I would 

 observe, that it is of no particular consequence of what form the frame may 

 be made : it may either be similar to that in the plate, or of any other form 

 the proprietor or maker may conceive best adapted for fixing the several 

 parts together, and which, from its symmetry, may be best calculated to 

 please the eye of an agriculturist. One thing, however, must never be lost 

 sight of, in whatever form it may be made, — that every part must be firmly 

 united, and the beams placed in such a manner as shall resist the greatest 

 strain, with the least possible quantity of material. The form in the drawing 

 (figs. 55, 56.) is the original design ; but, this season, the machines con- 

 structed under my inspection are considerably different in the construction of 

 their frames. They have a straight beam fixed to the lower rail, upon which 

 the cutters are screwed, passing with an angle above the main axle of the 

 machine, and terminating at the upper corner, where the last of the three rails 

 on the top of the machine is fixed. This form of frame requires considerably 

 less weight of wood, but it is, perhaps, objectionable in two respects : the 

 machines are too light behind, and they require a larger quantity of iron 

 mounting. This alteration in the form of the frame, in the eyes of some, 

 gives the machine a neater appearance, and it is, upon the whole, a little 

 lighter. The frame-work (a a) being thus explained, b b and c c are 

 four wheels upon which it is mounted, of whatever form it is made ; B b 

 have their spokes at right angles to their naves, and are 3^ ft. diameter. 

 For neatness' sake the naves are made of cast iron ; the wheels are from 

 5 to 6 in. broad at the runs, and are surrounded with a slight hoop of iron. 

 Were they made narrower in the rims, when the ground was soft they would 

 both cut it and drag, without giving motion to the connected parts of the 

 machinery. The small wheels c c, which support the front of the frame, are 



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