20 FARM MACHINERY 
in this country until the time of the American Revolution, 
but by the end of that century the grain cradle had taken its 
place. The cradle was developed by American ingenuity 
from the scythe by the addition of fingers for catching and 
holding the grain after it was cut by the blade. The scythe 
itself had previously been developed from the sickle by 
lengthening and bending the handle, and by lengthening 
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N.Y. 
A Moprern ReApInG MACHINE 
the blade and reducing its curvature. The American cradle 
is the most efhcient of all hand implements for the reaping of 
grain. A good cradler could cut about two acres a day, but 
it required another man to rake and bind the grain into 
sheaves. 
The reaper was first placed on the market for the harvest 
of 1845, and during the next ten or fifteen years the wheat 
