THRESHING-MACHINE. 



mont. The greater tlie diameter of the fame beater, from 

 •meeting with the principal refiftance, io much farther from 

 the centre, of courfc, the proportionately greater power is 

 required to work it ; but this lail defcription of beater is 

 faid, in general, to be found to make the bell work, and the 

 reafon is thought obvious : they are necelTarily driven by 

 water, lleam, or a number of horfcs, and, it is concluded, 

 calculated to make the fame number of revolutions in a 

 minute as one of two ieet, in which cafe their velocity, on 

 which all depends, is jull half as much more — a moll im- 

 portant point indeed. The means of regular Heady driving 

 is likewife of material importance in all machines of this 

 nature, where animal labour is necelfary. 



A very powerful imjjroved machine belonging to Mr. 

 Harbottle, of the Riminham farm, near Henley on Thames, 

 confifts of a horfe-wheel which contains 136 teeth, or pinion 

 wheel with 26, a large wheel with 88, another with 21, the 

 fame with 88, and a further one with 21, forming the drum. 

 Underneath the drum is the contrivance for winnowing, or 

 the wheel that feparates the chaff from the corn, by blowing 

 it back into a bin below the feeder, and allowing the corn 

 to fall into a box, froin whence it runs. Every revolution 

 of the horfe-wheel in this machine produces eighty-eight and a 

 half of the drum ; and as the horfe-wheel goes about three 

 rounds of twenty-four yards each per minute, or two miles 

 and a half in an hour, the drum of confequence muft revolve 

 on its circumference, of three yards and a half, 265 times in 

 a minute, or 927 yards. The feeding-board is five feet four 

 inches wide. The drum-wheel is four feet four inches dia- 

 meter, being covered with ftieet-iron, and has four beaters, 

 which project four inches ; making the above number of re- 

 volutions to one of the horfe-wheel, and the horfes going 

 the above diftance in the hour ; in a path twenty-feven feet 

 diameter. The cogs of the wheels are of white thorn pro- 

 perly feafoned, working into others of caft-iron ; payed only 

 with black lead, not any greafe being employed. The 

 level of the flage on which the men ftand to feed, is eight 

 feet above tho barn-floor in which the machine is fixed. 



The drums of threlhing-machiues, it is remarked, in ge- 

 neral revolve from fixtv to a hundred times for one revolution 

 of the horfe-wheels ; and that in proportion as thefe move 

 flower, the horfes mull go fader, fo that the utmoft nicety 

 is neceiTary to properly adjuil this : as if the horfes are under 

 the neceflity of trotting, they are greatly injured in long con- 

 tinued exertion, and if they move too flowly, the work is im- 

 perfeAly perfo'-med. A Heady common walk is the pace at 

 which horfes fhould be kept, and the drums of machines 

 iliould be formed accordingly, in order fidly to efFett their 

 work, and at the fame time to enable the horles to do a good 

 jday's labour without too much fatigue and inconvenience. 



This machine will threfli, it is faid, from twenty to thirty 

 quarters of wheat in twelve hours in great perfeflion ; from 

 thirty to forty-five of barley in the fame time ; and from 

 forty to fifty quarters of oats. It threflies every thing per- 

 feftly clean when the grain is in {heaves. But though it 

 cleans the, corn from chaff, as feen above, winnowing is re- 

 quired afterwards. It was feen with one feeder to threfli 

 twenty -two large and long (heaves in three minutes, without 

 any variation in the ordinary movement of the horfes. This 

 machine was conflruiled by Elhott of Hexham, in Northum- 

 berland, and coil about 200/., without the expences of fit- 

 ting up, &c. 



It is ftated, in the Eflex Agricultural Report, that Mr. 

 Newman of Hornchurch has a threfhing-mill which was built 

 by two young niillwriglits from Somerfetfliire, in which 

 there are two new circumllances of improvement, one of 

 i\';hich is a movement fo prepared, as that the perfon who 



Vol. XXXV. 



fVeds the mill, by putting his foot on a pedal can lift one of 

 the fluted cylinders out of its work, fo that the wheat -ears 

 having been advanced far enough to be threlhed, the draw 

 may be drawn back again and be prevented from being 

 broken ; the other is a click, or iron, which admits the 

 liorfes to be flopped fuddenly without Hopping the beaters ; 

 by which the couneftion is removed for a moment, fo that 

 one operates without tiie other : this is of capital im- 

 portance in working the machine. Reprefentations of thefe 

 unprovements are given in the above work. 



Thefe machines have occafionally grinding-mills combined 

 witii them, and are in this way found very convenient an^ 

 advantageous. The Hon. Newton Fellows, in Devorvfliire, 

 has been at very great cxpence, it is faid, in erefting a 

 threfliing-mill connected with one for grinding, both of 

 whicii are wrought by a never-failing flream of water. The 

 power of this mill or machine is laid to be calculated as 

 equal to fixteen horfes. And together with its power and 

 capability for threfliing, winnowing, and drefling every kind 

 of corn, the pair of flones for grinding attached to it are 

 about four feet in diameter, to wliich a bolting-machine or 

 apparatus is added. 



In working, this threfliing-machine is capable of difcharg- 

 iug about twenty-five bulhels of wheat, and nearly forty 

 bufliels of barley or oats in the hour. The barn, or place 

 where the machine is placed, being filled with the wheat or 

 other corn ; the manual afTillance for performing the bufi- 

 nefs is diflnbuted through it m this manner : one man and two 

 women for unbinding the flieaves of corn and feeding the 

 rollers, which lafl are grooved and divided into lengths of fix 

 or eight inches : on the flraw b'^ng difcharged from the 

 machine, one perfon attends to ihake it well over a large 

 open fcreen, whence it is tolled over to another perfon, who 

 removes it out of the way. At and under each of the win- 

 nowing-machines, fieves are placed to receive the grain com- 

 ing direClly from the machine, which is then put into the 

 hopper of the fan of the fecond winnowing-machine, from 

 which it is again received into another fieve, and thence dif- 

 charged into the hopper for grinding, for the market, or 

 for other purpofes : in pafling through this little fan, fuch 

 a feparation takes place as completely to divide the head 

 from the tail corn. A cyhadrical pearl-barley machine or 

 apparatus is alfo applied and ufed to cleanfe the wad of its 

 fmut, and thus by taking oft' the downy end of the grain, a 

 much finer fample of both wheat and flour is obtained. This 

 is preferred to the brufli apparatus ; for although that may 

 cleanfe the body of the grain, it will not carry off the down 

 from its end, which may reafonably be fuppofed to con- 

 tain the germ of fmut, or to form the nefl of otiier animal- 

 culte equally injurious to fuch grain when ufed as feed on 

 lands. 



There is in this machine only one labouring man employed 

 to five women, which is an advantage of great importance 

 in many fituations. The introduclion of fuch machinery as 

 this is therefore of great benefit in bettering and improving 

 the rural condition of the country. 



But, befides machines of this fort being conflrufted for 

 performing the different operations of threfhing, winnowing, 

 grinding, and bolting, they have fometimes contrivances for 

 other purpofes, as an iron hopper axis for grinding apples ; 

 and a contrivance for fhelling clover feed, and the haddocks 

 of wheat. Thefe two additions belong to a threlhing- 

 machine of Mr. Vinns in the above diftridt ; and fome others 

 are occafionally met with in other places which are a httle 

 different in their nature, but unnecefi'ary to be here de- 

 fcribed. 



In the general conftruftion of thefe machines, they are" 

 4 D commonly, 



