Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1875-04-22
Communicates.

Some t,yc1!y-tuuC years ago, in she early
days Of Keapin: Mac:lincs IN Implement
WAS devised to Gu! grain ;itt! Carry ;!4c bind!
ers. An experimental machine WAL; tested
ucar Cincinnati; over seventy acres We're
cut and successful; bound, !ilc binders Dc
ingt: cir work Gil the machine; bat the idea
WIS far i'll advance Of the .!tS Of The i,E;;'.
Grain farms were principally ncw, the land
rough, the grain heaF,. Iii: era WAS Il
transition one from The use Of cradles: and
the single step Of cutting down the grain
with IL machine drawn b. horses, was :,
long one to take from the use OF tli:, cradle.
The inventor OF this implement WAS Il me
c:lanic in tic then modest Reaper Works
OF C. H. Mccormick. Years afterwards the
idea was taken up By others, and in 1866
assumed definite shape before the public
in the Marsh Harvester. There was very
little modification Of the original machine,
except i'll details; even then tie implement
was il advance OF the age, aGd a large por-
lion Of the number tested that season was
thrown aside. The most urgent profession
al efforts OF NJ. Marsh failed 20 introduce
them with any rapidly, and tho writer Of
this saw him in 1865, at the end Of an TN
successful trial, pretty thoroughly dishcart-
cncd and discouraged. A great obstacle
to their Introduction WAS the shabby man.
ncr III which they were built. Still they
gradually grew in favor in some localities,
and have now become very popular in Il
section Of conn;ry representing about crc-
third Of tic grain-g:owiny part Of the Uni
ted States. In much the larger part Of the
country their use is yet unknown. This is
indicated by the relative number of ma
chimes built last season, in round mum bcrs,
something less than twenty thousand H%-
vestcrs as against over sixty thousand
Reapers.
The large manufacturers have but just
seen the need Of building then, and NOW
that their attention is being given to the
matter, we may expect I, great deal better
implement to lie sold for less money. More
especially is this the fact, as there are no
patents on the essential feature OF the Har-
ves:er that any one need to respect. If alr.
Marsh's claim to priority of invention was
we'll founded, the Edward, The Massillm,
the Low, Adams & French, the Wood, the
Werner, the Garnhart, and the Usage would
not all Of them have been built and sold
with impunity last season, and some Of
them for four or five years ba <; be assur-
ed that if there WAS a royalty in it Mr..
Marsh would have had it long ago. The
fact is, the old invention covers the whole
ground, and any one has !. right to build !.
Harvester that chooses. The consequence
of this is, the purchaser will have no pat
cnt fee or royalty to pay for, in buying
machine, while brisk competition will
drive the poorly made ones out of the
market.
Last year the Mcssrs. Mccormick in
structcd the inventor of the Old Cincinnati
machine to unite all the valuable features
! used in the leading Harvesters into one
machine. OF all the men in the country,
he was the most emiaently fitted to do this
work, and the sample machine now on ca
hibition at Dir. VanValkenburgh's Imple-
ment Store, is ample evidence of thescon-
scicn1ious and painstaking manner Gin
which he carried out his instructions. A
man familiar with Harvesters will at once
recognize the most valuable and distinct
i've points Of tile leading machines con-
b!ned III symmetrical proportion, with
some improvements over any and all Of
them. Those who have feared that from
| the desire the Messrs. McCarmick have
| always shown to build strong, that their
Harvester would lie unduly cumbersome
will be agrecably surprised to find it COM
pact and light, while it is finished and put
together in the very highest style Of me-
chanical excellence The frame is solidly
boiled and fitted together at the factory.
This is in marked contrast with some OF
the others, whose frames are sent out loose
/ ly, to be shabbily hung together by the.
agent. The Mcssrs. Mccormick would not
allow so important q piece of work to- be
done out ct their factory. The details of
the cutting apparatus are as excellent as
those Of the old Reliable, while many Of
the minor difficulties found in other Har-
vestcrs are entirely obvia:ed Tie machine
Is the embodiment Of the experience and
experimenting Of nearly thirty years, and
will come to the farmers Of II Minnesota, not
an untricd machine, buta thoroughly test
| cd and proved one, prepared to lake its
chances in Q rough and tumble fight with