THRESHING-MACHINE. 



lommoiily, fts ha» boon fci-n, made of two defcnptions, 

 large arnl fmall kinds ; tlio former of which probably not 

 only perform their work more cxpcditiondy, but m a more 

 p<-rfea manner, though their cxpencc is an objeaion to tlicm 

 on finall farms. They require ver^- different ftrength of 

 teams or other powers in working them, accordmg to their 

 lizes, the nature of their eonllruttion, and other circum- 



Itances. ... , 



It is llated, that in feme large machines of this kuul, the 

 rollers t.ike in about three hundred inches of grain in a mi- 

 nute. The medium length of the Uraw being eilimated at 

 about thirty inches, and fuppohng half a ihcaf to be ii,itro- 

 duced into the machine at a time, the whole flieaf will be 

 equal to tixty inches, and the machine, when fupplicd with a 

 middling quantity of water, will threili five (heaves in a mi- 

 nute. But in rcfped to tiie performance of thefe mills, 

 much mull depend on the attention with which tliey arc fed, 

 as a fmall ncgleft in this point will make a ver)' confiderable 

 difference in the quantity of work that is performed in a 

 given time. 



In regard to the expencc of thefe machines, it muft de- 

 pend upon t!ic fi/e and power which they pofTefs of per- 

 forming work, the number of other operations which they 

 perfonii at tlie fame time, and whether they be fixed or 

 moveable. According to fome perfons well informed on 

 the fubjcft, a fixed mill that requires the power of two or 

 three horfes, will coll from fixty to a hundred guineas. 

 This will threlh about fifteen quarters of wheat, and from 

 that to twenty of barley, oats, peas or beans in the courfe 

 of eight or nine hours. 



It is noticed, that the only defeft of machines worked 

 by wind, upon their firft introduftion, confided in the 

 rilk to which they were expofed, by flopping them to 

 take in the fails, which could fcarcely be done during a 

 brifk gale : in that way it fometimes happened, that when 

 the wind frefhened confiderably after the machine was fet 

 a going, either the fails were torn to pieces, or the arms 

 broken off. That defeft, however, is now remedied by a 

 late invention of Mr. Mickle, by which the whole fails can 

 be taken in, or let out, in lefs than half a minute, merely 

 by a perfon puUing a rope within the houfe ; by this con- 

 trivance the fails are, with eafe and expedition, proportioned 

 to any degree of wind, an uniform motion is produced, and 

 all danger of draining or hurting the machine is avoided. 



It is further obferved, that the number of hands required 

 for working one of thefe machines, is from five to fix ; but 

 that this depends greatly on tlie conilruftion of the machine, 

 fome of them being fo contrived, that the work can be per- 

 formed with much fewer hands. 



It is, however, noticed in the Agricultural Survey of 

 Norfolk, that a machine erefted by Mr. Johnfon, at Lemp- 

 fton, appears to be one of the beft, if not the very beft, of 

 the larger kind that has yet been met with. The movements 

 in it are uncommonly fmooth. It requires from fix to eicrht 

 horfes, fix men, and one woman ; it threfhes, without any quef- 

 tion, much cleaner than the flail, and, without any doubt, 

 cheaper. To bring it to its prefent perfeftion, as he was 

 determined to carry his point, he never flopped till it worked 

 to his mind ; and having completed it, the repairs fince have 

 been quite trifling. The common complaint of their being 

 always out of order is attributed to original errors or inat- 

 tention in the conftruftioH of them. ' The arrangement is 

 excellent, it is faid, in this machine, for difpofing of the 

 chaff, colder, ftraw, and corn, at once, in their refpeftive 

 places, without any confufion or after-removals ; and it 

 takes up a verj- fmall part of a barn. It was built by Mr. 

 TV igful of Lynn. 



Mr. Whiting, of Fring, has alfo a large threfhing^- 

 mill, built by Mr. Fordyce, an engineer from Scotland. 

 It coll him 200/. : is worked by fix horfes ; threfhes 

 twenty-four coombs of wheat in the day, fifty-five of barley, 

 and from fixty-three to eighty-four of oats. It has five 

 beaters on the drum-wheel, and the fluted fegment of a 

 cylinder which covers tlie drum in two parts, with an un- 

 fluted plate between them, which is raifed or funk by a fhort 

 lever : this is a guard againft Hones getting in. In another 

 circumflance alfo it is fingular ; there is a long platform, 

 with a rolling cloth bottom : the whole raifed or funk at 

 pleafure, for delivering the corn, acrofs the floor fpace of 

 the barn, from the gofF in which the corn is ftacked, to the 

 other end in which the mill is built; which faves much la- 

 bour, and works to his fatisfaftion. 



The horfe-wheel is liere upon a different conftruftioii 

 from the common ones, working by a cogged-wheel of fmall 

 diameter below, inftead of above the hories ; and the com- 

 municating fpindle under their path ; but it is faid to be 

 hard work. 



And Mr. Coke, of Holkham, is ftated to have a very 

 large machine, which coll about 600/. Befides threfhing, 

 it grinds corn, works two chaff-cutters, and breaks oil-cake. 

 It threfhes fixty-four coombs a day. 



Mr. Reeves, of Heverland, has a threlhing-mill which is, 

 the writer thinks, llill nearer to perfeftion than any other he 

 has feen ; it was made by Albey, works with two or three 

 horfes, and coll a hundred guineas. He found it at work, 

 threfhing oats ; it does for barley as well as for any other 

 grain, threfhing thirty-two coombs in a day of feven hours 

 and a half; more of oats; forty of peas; and thirty of 

 wheat : its day's work of wheat, threflied the day before 

 he faw it, was thirty-one coombs, which were Handing facked 

 in the barn. It varies confiderably in the beating-drum 

 cylinder from the others he has feen, it being of a much 

 larger diameter, and has eleven beaters. 



At Brightwell-Grove, in Oxfordfhire, according to the 

 Agricultural Report of that diftrift, there is a threfhing- 

 raachine, belonging to Mr. Lowndes, which was conflrufted 

 by Raflrick, and in which there is fome novelty of con- 

 trivance : it works by means of four horfes : the drum- 

 wheel, in this cafe, is three feet and a half in diameter, 

 makes two hundred and fixty revolutions in a minute, and, 

 having fixteen beaters, it gives 4160 ftrokes in that time : 

 there is a rake with four fets of teeth which takes the ftraw, 

 and delivers it to a fecond drum-beating cylinder two feet 

 in diameter. This drum is termed the dreffer, and turning 

 in an oppofite direftion to the motion of the ftraw, beats it 

 down, and in its defcent ftrikes it againft a circular board, 

 faced with bars Ihod with iron, through the fpace of eighteen 

 inches, by which the ftraw receives feveral additional ftrokes, 

 which, it is conceived, have a great efFecl in diflodging that 

 corn which has not been completely feparated in pafTing the 

 principal drum. This is the addition not ufual in thefe ma- 

 chines. Thefe are wrought four hours at a time, in which 

 eight quarters of wheat are threfhed out. Every thing is 

 threfhed perfeftly clean ; and the ftraw is not broken more 

 than by the flail. Twelve quarters of barley are threfhed 

 in four hours, and fixteen have been done in that length of 

 time. The horfes, in this machine, are not attached in the 

 draught, in the manner which refembles pufhing, by ad- 

 vancing with the lever before them, but in the common 

 drawing method, with the lever behind them, in which 

 way they are fuppofed by fome to do the work much 

 better. 



This machine was feen to threfh forty-three ftieaves in ten 

 minutes. It dreffes at the fame lime ; and there is a chaff- 

 cutter. 



