FARM WORK AND THE AGE OF MACHINERY 421 
growing industry developed by leaps and bounds. Prior 
to 1850 corn was used extensively for bread because enough 
wheat was not raised for the purpose, but after that date 
we not only produced wheat enough for our own needs but 
had a rapidly increasing surplus for export. 
The reaper was the product of many years of study and 
experiment by a host of inventors, the most notable of whom 
was Cyrus H. McCormick of Virginia. The earliest types 
used in this country were known as the dropper and the 
hand-rake. The first of these dropped the cut grain at inter- 
vals behind the machine, where it had to be raked, bound, 
and’ removed before the next round could be made. The 
hand-rake reaper had a board platform on which the grain 
was thrown by the reel, and when there was enough for a 
bundle an attendant raked it off. With the perfected self- 
rake reaper, a driver and a two-horse team could cut six to 
eight acres a day and drop it on the ground in small piles, 
and it took four good “ hands” to bind these into sheaves. 
Many farmers increased this daily cut by using a larger ma- 
chine and more horses. 
The next improvement of importance was devised by the 
Marsh brothers of Illinois, and was known as the Marsh 
harvester. This machine, by means of a canvas elevator, 
carried the grain to a platform, in front of which stood two 
men who bound it as fast as it was delivered to them. This 
arrangement enabled two men, riding on the machine, to 
‘bind as much grain as four could bind on the ground after 
the reaper. 
But the inventors were not satisfied even yet, and soon 
the automatic binder was made and attached to the harvester, 
taking the place of the two men. At first wire was used for 
binding the bundles, but after a few years John F. Appleby 
