HARVESTING. 103 



curved blade, set in the end of a short handle, 

 blade and handle forming an obtuse angle, 

 makes a favorite hand knife. Some people 

 use a grass hook or sickle from preference. 

 The straight-bladed corn knife is unsurpassed 

 for rapid and effective hand work. 



Corn-harvesting machinery,— Within a few 

 years machines have been devised for cutting 

 corn by horse power. One method has been to 

 haul between two rows a drag with wings on 

 one or both sides, to which knives are attached. 

 The Buckeye machine (Fig. 33) is one of the 

 most approved types of this class. It is carried 

 on four wheels and is pulled by one horse. In 

 the center of the machine is a tripod with a 

 seat on which two men may sit, one on each 

 end and back to back, each facing a row of corn 

 and grasping the stalks as cut. When not in 

 use the wings with knives may be laid up 

 against the tripod. The knives adjust to leave 

 stubble 6 to 14 inches long as desired. 



The self-binding form of the harvester, how- 

 ever, promises to be the important one of the 

 future. In the Rural New Yorker of June 20, 

 1891, Prof. I. P. Eoberts of ^Cornell University 

 described a machine he devised for cutting and 

 binding corn. This machine was improved by 

 D. M. Osborn & Co. Since then a number of 

 firms have placed self-binders on the market. 

 The Deering Harvester Co. construct a machine 



