1851 
THE CULTIVATOR 
253 
McCormick’s Patent Virginia Reaper. 
Rochester, May 12, 1851. 
HE undersigned, in again offering his Reaper to the Fanners of 
New-York for the ensuing harvest, deems it unnecessary to say 
much in the way of.an advertisement, having provided for bringing the 
subject directly to the attention of those interested, by means of travel¬ 
ing and local agents, who are provided with handbills for distribution 
in the different wheat growing portions of the state, which furnish a 
fuller account of the Reaper, with the recent improvements made on 
it, than could be generally given through the newspapers of the coun¬ 
try. It is deemed sufficient to say here, that the undersigned has 
made ample arrangements for the supply of whatever demand shall 
be found in New-York for his Improved Reaper, (having improved it 
more or less every successive year since its first introduction,) provi¬ 
ded that application for the same shall be made in due time; and that 
Hon. Thos. J. Patterson of this city will act as his principal traveling 
agent, and will supply local agents for counties or small districts, with 
hand bills and all needful information in relation to the Reapers, which 
will be kept on deposit at Buffalo and Rochester,—and it is also inten¬ 
ded to have one at Brockport, and some suitable place in each dis¬ 
trict, that can be seen, where persons desirous of purchasing would 
do well to call and examine them. They are referred for them to 
Holt, Palmer & Co., of Buffalo, and to Mr. Patterson, Joseph Hall, 
or David R. Barton, Esq., of Rochester. Mr. Hall, well known 
throughout this state for the last ten or fifteen years, as the most exten¬ 
sive and successful manufacturer of threshing machines in the state, 
and Mr. Barton, equally well known as the most extensive general 
“tool manufacturer” in the state, have, (as will be further seen from 
their advertisements,) taken agencies for the sale of the Reaper,— 
the former for the counties of Monroe, Ontario and Wayne, and the 
latter in those of Livingston, Genesee and Wyoming. Mr. Hall will 
be supplied with patterns, and can from time to time furnish any parts 
of the Reapers to purchasers; and Mr. Barton will be supplied with 
sickles for both new and old machines. 
The price of the Reaper will be the same as hitherto, and it will, 
in every respect, be warranted as heretofore, as will be found in the 
printed form of an order for one, the undersigned being still determin¬ 
ed, (as heretofore,) to introduce it upon its merits, and to the satisfac¬ 
tion of the farming community—who should look well to the form of 
the guaranty offered by others. 
Local agents are requested to keep up a regular correspondence 
with the undersigned, at Chicago, III., who will be pleased at all 
times to be inquired of through the mail, by any one in relation to 
the Reaper. Mr. Patterson may and should also be written to, but 
he will be necessarily much fromhome, and all delay should be avoi¬ 
ded that can be. 
The undersigned, not having for some time felt it necessary to pub¬ 
lish certificates of his Reaper ? would respectfully refer those feeling 
any interest in it, for information, to the following persons, viz: Dan¬ 
iel Collins, Esq., Fayette, Onondaga county; A. Bothwell, Genoa, 
Cayuga county; David Oliver, Aurelius, Cayuga county; H. Osgood, 
Ovid, Seneca county; Abram Bloomer, Romulus, Seneca county; 
E. P. Spencer, Penn Yah, Yates county; Cyrus Gult, Hopewell, On¬ 
tario county; William Woolston and J. P. Vanness, Victoria, Onta¬ 
rio county; Hon. Charles Carroll, Groveland, Livingston county; W. 
F. and N. Crappell, Avon, Livingston county; Dr. C. McKinzie, 
York, Livingston county; Anson Zorpy, Elba, Genesee county; W. 
P. Slocum, Cambria, Niagara county; Ethan Pettit, Wilson, Niaga 
ra county; Dr. J. Grever, Lockport, Niagara county; Simeon Wil¬ 
son, Lockport, Niagara county. 
The improvement made on the Reaper since the last harvest, which 
is in the Cutting Apparatus, as shown in Figure 2, consists of a combi¬ 
nation of the Shoulder or back angle of the Finger, (as patented and 
used in my Machine,) with a slightly indented or-zigzag edged Sickle, 
by which arrangement, as seen from the cut, the angle in the Sickle 
edge is made so obtuse, as, together with the angle of the Finger for 
holding the grain to the Sickle , to effect the most perfect philosophical 
principle of cutting, by using just the right slope for cutting with the 
least resistance , and in the most perfect manner. The objections to 
the zigzag edge, as used by Hussey and others, are in this ent irely ob¬ 
viated, while all the benefits derived from the use of my Finger are 
still secured Without the angle in the Finger for holding the grain 
to the Sickle, it has been necessary to use so acute and abrupt an an¬ 
gle in the blade to effect the cutting, as to require a very high motion 
to the blade, and that, with so much friction and resistance as to make 
the Machine very liable to get out of order—the cutting being done 
more by means of the abrupt stroke against the grain, than by the 
edge of the instrument. This is understood by every boy who knows 
how to draw a knife in cutting a stick, and needs only to be stated to 
be Understood by all. C. H. McCCRMICK. 
Chicago, May 20, 1851. 
Eds. Albany Cultivaton. —Please insert the foregoing advertise¬ 
ment in your valuable Journal—and permit me again to refer your 
readers to the 186th page of the May No. of theCultivator,” for 
Mr. Husseys' 1 s own repudiation of his Machines, as heretofore ma¬ 
nufactured by his brother at Auburn, N. Y., and elsewhere, which 
have been the only machines of his sold or offered in the State of 
New-York. As to his real Simon pure “ Balt. Machine ” which he 
now claims “has driven from the field East of the Allegheny Mourn 
tains, every other Reaper,” [April No. Cult. p. 149,] 1 need only say 
that I sold East of said mountains, from Chicago , for the last harvest , 
near 100 Reapers—being a larger number than Mr. Hussey sold from 
his Baltimore manufactory altogether—and calculate to sell there for 
the ensuing harvest at least double this number, 150 having already 
been shipped; and further to explain , that for a few years past, while 
I have been engaged in the manufacture and sale of my Reapers in 
the Prairie country of the North-west, by thousands, and so exten¬ 
sive as nearly to require my whole attention, Mr. Hussey has been 
able to sell but uery few there —whether of Baltimore or other manu¬ 
facture, and with all the effort he has been able to make personally , 
as well as with all the agencies he could procure—and indeed, as I 
am informed, has not sold from his Baltimore manufactory altogether, 
“East of the Alleghany Mountains,” some 50 Machines a year— 
while I was able to give but little attention to the supply of that sec¬ 
tion of the country. And I will only add that, being now prepared to 
supply the demand for Reapers throughout the whole of this country 
—Texas, California and Oregon not excepted, and where they a/e 
about being introduced—I shall be disposed in future, as “ hereto¬ 
fore,” to compromise with Mr. Hussey by continuing to supply the 
demand of the country with Reapers, while he may continue to “ lay 
the flattering unction to his soul” that his “ Baltimore Machine” is 
the “only genuine article,”—and not being ambitious “of making 
a very large number of Machines, the extent of my (his) business, 
has heretofore been to fill (a few) orders.” 
I may say that while Mr. Hussey has' advertised his Machine for 
mowing , since its first introduction, without success, I sold a good 
number of Machines last year, adapted to mowing as well As reap¬ 
ing, which gave satisfaction, and are believed to be superior to any 
others yet used; and that they will be so introduced arid further tested 
the present season in the different sections of the country—and that 
the mowing attachment can at any time hereafter be applied to the 
Reapers of this year if wanted. 
I shall conclude by referring to a single (subjoined) letter from Ma¬ 
ryland, and to the following authorised agents for the sale of “ Mc¬ 
Cormick’s Patent Virginia Reaper,” viz: H. N. Willetts, Middle- 
town,Del.; L. H. Dowdney, Greenwich, N. Jersey; E. Whitman jr. 
& Co., Baltimore, Md.; C. Page, Fredericktown, Md.; H. M. Smith, 
Richmond, Va.; Abner Thompson, Reedsville, Mifflin county, Pa.; 
Lee Pierce and Lee, Ercildown, Chester county, Pa.; Lewis Moore, 
Bart township, Pa., and Sami. Whirry, Chambersburg, Cumberland 
co., P.; T. R Ebhinlon, 53 South Wharves, Phil., principal depot 
for Reapers East of the mountains. Very respectfully yours. C. H. 
McCORMICK. 
Waterloo, St. Mary’s Co., Md., Nov. 12, 1850. 
Mr. C. H. McCormick, of Chicago, Illi.: I have been intending to 
write you ever since harvest, concerning a Reaper my brother and I 
ordered of you, but have deferred ti 11 am almost ashamed to write, 
though I think I ought to write. When a man invents any machine 
which is of essential service to his fellow man, his reward consists 
not alone in the dollars and dimes which it brings into his pocket, but 
also in the good report of the progeny of his genius. 
My brother and I having rather heavy harvests for our forces, de¬ 
termined to buy a Reaper in partnership. When he was about to 
start for Baltimore to procure one, I cautioned him particularly “not 
to get McCormick’s,” having seen an article in the American Far¬ 
mer by Dr. M--, of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in which Hus¬ 
sey’s and McC.’s Reapers were compared, as I thought much to the 
prejudice of McC.’s; but my brother, contrary to instructions, meet¬ 
ing with Mr. Whitman of Baltimore, was induced to purchase one of 
the forbidden McC.’s Reapers. I commenced in my own crop, in a 
lot of wheat, some of which was 6 feet 4 inches high, and some not 
over 3 feet, and it would have done you good to see how she laid it 
down, with a green raker and driver. With this same raker I cut my 
field of about 70 acres, and my brothers of about 60 acres, and all 
without worsting the horses one pound in flesh, to all appearances. 
Mr. Piowdon, who is a large wheat grower, has had one of Hussey's 
Reapers afiwork for three or four years, and one might suppose that 
the appearance of a Reaper would be nothing to attract attention; but 
it was otherwise. My field was thronged with visitors all the time, 
both ladies and gentlemen, and all pronounced her work admirable 
and perfect. So well pleased with it were those farmers who snw it 
work, that I think I could ensure the sale of at least six in this imme¬ 
diate district, at a small premium. One gentleman, who is a man of 
few words, after following the Machine about a hundred yards, and 
eyeing every rake and turn of the reel, without a word, first made 
use of this language : “ I am done with cradles.” Another said— 
“ If I can raise forty dollars I’ll have one.” I only write these to show, 
(they are few of the many commendations,) how your Reaper took 
in this neighborhood. 1 consider it scarely susceptible of improve¬ 
ment. She has been well tried I assure you; and If I were asked 
what I consider the advantages of having McCormick’s Reaper, I 
should say candidly, I think the Reaper worth at least $15 per day, 
besides the saving of enough wheat over and above what the best 
cradles save, to pay for herself in reaping a field of 50 acres of good 
wheat. In fine sir, if there could be no more Reapers made, but the 
privilege of keeping this up by repairs, reserved, I would not take 
$1,000 for it, and I have heard my brother say the same. Repectlul- 
ly. July 1—It. _ Z. D. BLAKISTONE. 
PARKER & WHITE, 
M ANUFACTURERS of Garden Implements and Farm Ma¬ 
chines , and growers and Importers of SEEDS and TREES , 
8 and 10 Gerrish Block, Blackstone-st., Boston. April 1—tf. 
Transactions N. Y. $. Ag. Society. 
T HE Tranasctions of the New-York State Agricultural Society 
vols. 1 to 9, for sale at the Office of “The Cultivator”— price 
$1 per vol. 
