Pos SS 
28 
in one year; and he adds, “ But suppose the 
price of a machine could be saved even in two 
years, the advantages would be very great, under 
the supposition that an effective machine could 
be procured for £30. It is deserving of consi- 
deration, also, that although no reaping-machine 
is to be expected capable of cutting down the 
crops in every possible state, yet we may infer 
that, even on a farm of ordinary extent, such a 
breadth of crop may be found, in almost any sea- 
son, capable of being cut by a machine, as would 
save half the expense of the purchase. ‘To ob- 
tain an effective and durable reaping-machine is, 
therefore, yet an important object to the farming 
interest.” 
This object, however, seems slow to be realized. 
Rude attempts toward it were made so long ago 
as the time of the ancient Romans; many and 
most ingenious attempts toward it have been 
made, both in Britain and on Continental Europe, 
| in the course of the present century; several of 
_ the modern attempts have excited sanguine 
hopes, and have even seemed for a time to be 
entirely triumphant; and yet, for all purposes of 
| general utility, a tolerably fair attempt, to say 
nothing of a really successful one, has yet to 
be made. The very best of the many reaping- 
machines hitherto constructed, though very beau- 
| tiful and highly ingenious pieces of machinery, 
| are but a degree better than mere curiosities, 
_ and do not require therefore to be lengthily de- 
scribed. Three of them, indeed—Smith’s, Bell’s, 
and Mann’s—do pretty well on crops which every- 
| where stand quite erect, or which, if inclined 
at all, are inclined but slightly and everywhere 
in one direction; but all fail, or make most un- 
satisfactory work, on crops which are contorted 
by winds or lodged by rains. 
| Boyce’s reaping-machine was patented early in 
| the present century, and was the first reaping- 
_ machine of considerable promise. It was mounted 
on a two-wheel carriage, somewhat similar to a 
common cart, but with fixed wheels or revolving 
axle; it had a vertical spindle which descended 
to the proper cutting distances from the surface 
of the ground, and was there armed with a num- 
ber of horizontally adjusted scythes; it commu- 
nicated motion to the spindle by mechanical 
| connexion with the revolving axle of the car- 
riage; and it hence cut down the growing corn 
by a rapid revolution of its scythes,—a revolu- 
| tion produced by the carriage being wheeled 
|| along; but it had no provision for gathering the 
corn into parcels or for depositing it in heaps or 
m any proper order. 
Plucknet’s reaping-machine, made by an agri- 
cultural implement maker of that name in Lon- 
don, was similar in general structure to Boyce’s, 
but, instead of the scythes, had a notched, sharp- 
edged, circular steel-plate, which cut the crop with 
a similar action to that ofa very fine toothed saw. 
Gladstone’s reaping-machine, made by Glad- 
stone of Castle-Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire, 
[ 
REAPING-MACHINE. 
was even nearer in principle to Plucknet’s than 
Plucknet’s was to Boyce’s; but it consisted of 
superior workmanship, and comprised contri- 
vances for keeping the cutting edge in constant 
sharpness, and for gathering the cut corn and 
depositing it in parcels. 
Salmon’s reaping-machine was made by Salmon 
of Woburn, and was a still later invention than 
Gladstone’s, and was constructed on a widely dif- 
ferent principle, and gave still higher promise of 
success. It cut the corn by means of shears, and 
had an ample and effective apparatus for depo- 
siting it in parcels. 
Ogle’s reaping-machine was invented in 1822 
by Mr. Henry Ogle, schoolmaster at Rennington, 
near Alnwick, in Northumberland, and was un- 
dertaken to be furnished by Messrs. Brown, iron- 
founders in Alnwick, and comprised apparatus 
for sheaving corn as well as for cutting it, and 
was estimated to cut 14 acres per day, and is | 
said to have done its work on trial in a satisfac- | 
tory way, yet does not seem to have ever won the | 
confidence of any practical farmer. A figure and | 
a description of it may be seen in the 5th volume © 
of the Mechanic’s Magazine. | 
Smith’s reaping - machine, the invention of | 
Mr. Smith of Deanston, was tried so early as | 
1811, and came prominently into notice in 1816, 
and underwent a series of important improve- 
ments from the period of its first trial till about | 
the year 1837. It from time to time excited 
great hopes; and seemed at each successive im- 
provement to have almost reached the point of 
complete success; yet, it is probably farther at 
the present day, than ever it was, from coming into 
ordinary practical use. Its cutter is a continu- 
ous circular knife, revolving with considerable 
velocity ; and its gathering apparatus comprises 
a revolving rake, placed over and concentric 
with the cutter, and lays the cut corn down at 
one side of the track of the machine. It is | 
pushed by two horses, and cuts a breadth of 
about 4 feet; but it has a length of about 20 
feet, and is exceedingly unwieldy. 
Bell’s reaping-machine, invented by the Rev. 
Patrick Bell of Carmylie in Forfarshire, was put 
into operation in 1827, and received a premium 
of £50 from the Highland and Agricultural So- 
ciety of Scotland ; and during several years, it was 
much talked of among the best-informed circles 
of agriculturists, and seemed to bid fair to ren- 
der itself worthy of practical adoption; yet, al- 
most or quite as much as Smith’s, it has caused 
eventual disappointment, and is passing into 
oblivion. It cuts on the clipping principle, by 
means of a series of shears ; and it combines with 
this a gathering apparatus which lays the cut 
corn on an endless web, and, by means of this, 
deposits it along one side of the machine’s tract. 
It is pushed by two horses, and cuts a breadth of 
5 feet. A figure and description of it may be seen 
in the first volume of the Quarterly Journal of 
Agriculture, 
