the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. 57 
Fig. 48. — Section of Abell's Paragon Threshing-Machine. 
get a jerky motion from the. blows of the agitator N 1 ; after the chaff has 
been blown away by the fan, the grain reaches the compartment K, the base 
of the grain-conveyor ; here it is partially rubbed by the arms of a small fan, 
which forces it upwards along a small elevator tube by which it is conducted 
to the sack's mouth, the outlet being here sufficiently high to allow of a sack 
standing upright under it. The cavings, &c., fall over the end of the shoe to 
the base of the elevator L, by which they are conveyed back to the drum ; by a 
clever arrangement of an angle pulley, shown by dotted lines at 0, and chain 
gearing, the straw-elevator can be fixed at any angle, so as to convey the 
straw from the machine in any direction from a straight line to a right angle. 
Mr. Abell makes machines of different sizes, according as they are to be driven by 
steam, horse, or hand-power. As far as the winnowing process is concerned, this 
machine is similar to the single-blower English machines. The features that 
appear to me objectionable are, first, the character of the drum, which is not 
capable of removing all the grain at one operation. Ears can and do pass 
between the beaters on the drum and the concave almost without contact. 
The carrying a heavy weight of corn and straw from the base of the drum up 
a steep incline for a distance of 10 feet is a most needless expenditure of 
power. There is no reason that I can conceive why the threshed grain should 
not pass at once to the shoe by means of an inclined board. Thus would be 
saved the labour and wear and tear on pulleys and belts, &c, of conveying 40 
or 50 tons of grain per day. In several of the more modern machines this 
arrangement is carried out. The straw-shakers having spaces between the 
frames, or holes bored, which allow the grain to pass through, and so reach 
the winnower without any additional labour, reciprocating forks assist the 
passage of the straw and the further separation of grain. I may draw atten- 
tion to the machines made by G. Westinghouse and Co., Schenectady, New 
York, as successful examples of this form, and as doing creditable work under 
trial with a fair average crop ; 638s lbs. of best corn resulted from loi minutes' 
work — something over 1 ton an hour, not, however, by any means an extra- 
ordinary result. The drum is of peculiar construction ; both it and the con- 
cave are composed of bars of wrought iron, channel shape, fitting to wood 
bars, through which the spikes are bolted. The elasticity of the wood pre- 
vents unusual strain. The concave and drum being both open, much of 
the grain passes directly to the winnower, and every portion carried on 
with the straw is sure to be separated by the jerky action of the straw- 
shakers, the straw being constantly knocked along by four rows of forks. 
Tread-gears. — Several small machines for tread-power were ex- 
hibited, and some, which were subjected to trial, appeared to work 
