The Sun.
London, England, 1853-11-01 00:00:00

NEW AMERICAN THRESHING MACHINE

Some time ago our New York correspondent, referring
to a few of the more remarkable contributions to the
American Exhibition, noticed with especial commenda-
tion an improved threshing machine, or, as it is called
on that side of the Atlantic, " grain separator." This
implement, which was patented in 1852 by its inventor,
Mr. IVloffit, Cif Cincinnati, has now been brought over
to this country, and yesterday Mr. Mechi, who in his
go-ahead tendency may be considered an English Yan-
kee, subjected it to a public trial at Tiptree. Its per.
forruance well entitles it to the attention of agriculturists,
and we have no hesitation in saying that it is a valuable
accession to the stock of those mechanical inventions by
which the business of the farmer has of late years
benefitted so largely. The machine, which is por-
table, weighs only fourteen cwt., threshes easily and
without waste at the rate of 1 bushel in 40 seconds,
turns out the grain perfectly clean and ready for market,
and is manufactured in America at a cost price of 231.
It is thus about twice as light in draught as the lightest
of our machines of the same description, does as much if
not more work than the best of them, and with much
less power, dresses the grain, which they do not, and
can be profitably disposed of at one-half, or, at least,
one-third less money than our implement-makers
charge. Any practical man who considers all these ad-
vantages will appreciate at once their importance ; yet
they are secured by very simple arrangements, and
by mechanical details which separately possess no very
striking novelty. We build threshing-machines strong
and dear enough to rob us of the benefit of all future
improvements, and tremendously heavy either to work
or to draw. The American farmer demands and gets
a machine, which it does not ruin him to buy, or his
horses to pull about, which runs on coach and not wag-
gon wheels, and which, without breaking the heart of
the power that drives it, yields the largest and most
satisfactory results. Nothing, therefore, can better
illustrate the difference in the mechanical genius of the
two countries than this grain separator as compared with
its British rivals. Among the distinguishing features of
Mr. Moffitt's patent may be noticed, that in threshingF
damp or wet grain he avoids " wrapping" or " choking,"
by using an ingenious open straw carrier of wooden
rods, connected by iron links, and driven by a cog-
wheel, and that for cleaning the grain he has intro-
duced a peculiar riddle, in which straw cannot lodge ;
a wire rolling screw, through which grass, seeds, and
other impurities fall ; and a conveyer for carrying back the
tailings. To push along the grain he employs the archi-
medean screw, much in the same manner as in the flour-
mills of this country—a decided improvement upon the
cup-lifting apparatus of our implement-makers, which
they seem to feel a perverse pleasure in resorting to when
they have the least excuse for doing so. The drum was
yesterday driven by a 6-horse portable engine of Ran-
some's, at about 1,200 revolutions per minute ; and,
with that speed, the proportion of broken kernels was
exceedingly small. The bars of the drum are armed with
numerous wrought iron teeth, which break the straw
much more than we in this country consider desirable.
Another objection taken to the machine is, that it does
not give off the straw and the chaff separately
in the most convenient and economical form.
Taken altogether, however, this " separator" is
a highly creditable specimen of the mechanical
ingenuity of our cousins. It promises none of
those startling results which drew such attention to the
reaping-machines imported in 1851, but it may prove of
the highest value if, through the formidable competition
.which it foreshadows, our implement-makers are induced
to bring their scale of charges more within reach of the
practical farmer's means, and to combine lightness of
construction with the greatest possible efficiency and
economy in the work done. It will be remembered that
at the Exhibition in Hyde-park a number of American
ploughs were exhibited, the dearest of which were not
more expensive than the lowest priced British ploughs.
That disparity, it was said (though we believe not justly),
was more than counterbalanced by the inferiority of
the article. But no such answer can in the present
instance be given, and, though Mr. Moffitt comes over
to dispose of his patent, other American inventors will
soon follow to work theirs. The British locksmiths,
who have for ages been content to carry on their busi-
ness by rule of thumb, will immediately find Mr. Hobbs
turning out by machinery far better and cheaper locks
than theirs. So, the gunsmiths will find Colonel
Colt bringing the same agent to bear in supplying the
demand for his revolvers. It is no secret that Mr.
Whitworth, of Manchester, has brought back from his
recent tour, as a Royal Commissioner, through the
manufacturing districts of the United States a report
filled with the most startling evidence of the pro-
gress which the mercantile arts are making there.
The inventive genius of this country is about to be
encountered on its own soil by a rivalry which it cannot
too soon prepare itself to face ; and one of the first
classes that must meet this competition is the body of
agricultural implement-makers. It will not be the fault
of that pushing, bustling, restless advocate of improve-
ment, the owner of Tiptree, if our Garretts and Ran-
somes escape the contest. The American reaping-
machines found their way to his wheat crops, as if in-
stinctively, in 1851. The American threshing-machine
comes now, and we are promised at no distant date a
steam cultivator, the invention of an American, which
is to deprive agriculture of her motto, and render it no
longer necessary to " Speed the Plough."