422 



THE WHEAT CULTUEIST. 



and long rye without breaking, or tangling the straw. 

 This thrasher is one of the most ingenious labor-saving 

 machines that I know of. It is similar to a thrasher 

 invented by Eev. 'N. Palmer, Hudson, ISTew York, which 

 operated with two long cylinders about five and a half 

 feet long and fourteen inches in diameter, made to re- 

 volve toward each other. 



The unthrashed grain is fed sideways into the machine, 

 instead of lengthways. If some of the straws enter in 

 a diagonal direction, they will be brought out straight. 

 The straw is carried by the carrier beyond the rear end, 

 where it is deposited in gavels of any desired size. When 

 the machine is in operation, two active laborers will 

 bind the straw as fast as the machine thrashes it. 



Straw thrashed with such a machine is much more 

 valuable in market than if it had been thrashed with a 

 machine that breaks it into short pieces ; and more than 

 this, the bundles can be stored in a smaller space, and 

 it is more convenient for being fed into a straw-cutter 

 after being thrashed. This machine will thrash all kinds 

 of cereal grain as fast as spiked machines ; and when 

 tlie straw is long and heavy, I think it will thrash faster, 

 with the same power, than the other thrashers which 

 shell out the grain by means of spikes. Two horses will 

 drive such a machine, when attached to a railway power, 

 and do a fair business ; but a three-horse railway power 

 will give the cylinders a furious velocity ; and an active 

 man will be obliged to work lively in order to feed the 

 machine to the capacity of the thrasher. 



The reason why such a machine will thrash long 

 heavy straw more rapidly than a spiked thrasher, is, 

 that a large proportion of the effective force of the team 

 is absorbed in breaking the straw to pieces by means of 



