Los Angeles herald., 1891-06-28
A WONDERFUL MACHINE.
A New Thresher Now at Work on the
Centinela Ranch.

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Mr.. Andrew Stephan, the owner of a
fine grain ranch near Santa Monica, has
recently perfected and has now in opera
ton on the Centinela rancho about as
complete piece of machinery in the
shape of a self-feeding threshing machine
as this region ever saw. Mr.. Stephan
has long been convinced that the great
eastern farm machinery manufacturers
did not understand the peculiar needs of
the California rancher in the way of
special appliances for the threshing and
saving of grains, and for some time has
been in communication with Mr.. Lam
fenburg, the Stockton inventor, with
the object in view of perfecting thresh-
ing machine better adapted to Califor-
mia work. The objection he had to the
eastern-made machine was that it
was too slow Of operation, and did not
separate the grain properly. The result
was that model was produced by the
inventor and Mr.. Stephan in collabora-
ton which promised to prove success,
and an order was given to the Stockton
agricultural and harvester works to make
the machine.
Mr.. Stephan took party OF friends,
including a representative OF the HER
AID, out to see his new acquisition on
recent occasion. The drive was made
from Santa Monica, the party first stop
ping at the Stephan ranch, four and
half miles from that town. Here Mr..
Stephan has beautiful home, embow-
cred in trees and surrounded by vista
of growing crops. The residence proper
is reached by a pleasant and shady
drive, under an avenue of pepper trees,
and in close proximity is "patch" of
corn, 125 acres in extent, which made
the Missourian of the party think of his
former home.
Mr.. Stephan's ''granary, as they call
it back east, has a capacity of 10000
sacks, or $4,000 bushels, and there is,
besides, a supplemental warehouse with
an additional capacity of 10000 sacks.
The other buildings on the ranch in
clude blacksmith shops, harness shops
and stables and the place is stocked
with $50 head of fine horses and cattle.
Leaving the Stephan ranch, the party
was driven to Centinela, where Mr..
Stephan's new machine is at work. 1t
proved to be truly wonder. In one
end disappeared the unthreshed straw
in stream almost bewildering IN its
rapidity, and out of the other came the
bright golden grain, almost as rapidly,
and filling four sacks at once.
The thresher has four fans, three
large and three small beaters, and four
conveyors or shoes, and the work is
done accurately and with dispatch.
The grain passes from the Byron self
feeder. which is worked in conjunction
with the thresher, into the first cylin-
der, and from the first grain conveyer,
into which it takes drop of about two
feet, and is extended by powerful fan,
to the second grain conveyer, and SO on
until it has passed through four cylin-
ders and been thoroughly threshed,
when the chaff was found to be en-
tirely free from grain of any description,
and the grain likewise free from chaff
1t fills four sacks at once, separates the
wheat or barley from the oats, and
these from the mustard seed. Its high
est capacity was five sacks per minute.
over 1000 sacks being threshed in the
| days work.
Mr.. Stephan has expended quite $1,000
in this outfit, and thinks he has at last
solved difficult problem.