Middletown transcript., 1894-06-23

motion OF the waving grain; the music Of
blackolrds and thrIshes; the perfume of
clover bloom; with all the varying beauty
of hedges, fields and forest. Riding along
the Country roads, looking across the fields,
watching the reapers at work, that won
derfui piece Of machinery-the self-blnder,
I'm 50 impressed with its majesty that Tn
ready to take off my hat my bonnet, and
pay tribute 10 the inventor Of these mo-
dern machines.
What wonderful progress we've made i'll
our methods OF harvesting! What a con-
trast between the scenes of to-day and
those of 40 years or more ago Then the
scythe and cradle was our only rcaping
machine; and what a throng of reap.rs
and binders it required to save a hundred
acre fell! Of fraiE What sight it was to
see those Gozcn cradle RS, in rythnlic motion,
bending 70 their swath, followed at resu-
Lar intervals by their binders, both men
women. Then, there were the shuckers
and picl,ers-up. making in ali quite an
army.
Only few are living to-day who be
long1d to,ilat army There IS in this neigh.
borhood one lone relic of ages past VINO
lend the san ir many big harvest fie Z.
They cai..d him Uncle Isaac" the cilam-
pion cr"d .er Of his day, and his wife
Emeline was his binder, They mace
team too. ind that farnler was lucky WAC
had thens for leaders.
Rlt the teaping machines put an end IL
cradl:ng- The Hussey reaper, putentei hY
Obed Hu.>ey, of Ohio, Vas given a lub.ic
trial and exhibition July 18th, 1887, Gil the
Eastern 5Iore Of Maryland Under he
direction If the Maryland Agricultural
society. This machine cut a $50 acre fed
of oats anI barley the same season, ara
from the reputation then acquired, it soon
came int General use. R Thos: Cochran
was the first ii this neighborhood to own
one, and farmers came from far and near
to Sc, it work. What q heavy cumbersome
machine it was! A fonr-horse load truly
but it had The same principle that govern
these more modern reaperS, and the saw
tooihed knives ana guards can only be used
old Obed Hussey, vino died in poverty
and obscurity hin self.
Mccormick, of Virginia, also patented
machine, and Haines, Ketchum and Wood
were noted inventors Of reaping machines.
But it remained for an Appcby to com
plets the invention by adding the self-bin-
der. This has reduced the harvest force to
only handful, and the regular farm hands
are all that is required now to save the
crop. -..
Vastly different from the days of our
fathers, or even our own early days, when
the first reapers were used. What great
preparations were made for harvest in those
davs Such patches of bread, cakes and
pies! Chicken pot-pies, blackberry pud-
dings. cherry tarts, and every other good
thing known to culinary art. And do you
remember the"piece?" Mayhapit was your
task 10 carry it across the stubble 10 where
the reaper made its rounds, and, sitting
under the shade o a great shock wait till
every one of the men received his share of
the lunch, l wonder if the "liece' has
gone out of fashion now? Do you know
how it ever became custom? Long years
ago it was thought impossible to have har-
vest without whisky. 1t was believed that
men could not stand the heat and the work
without it, and every farmer, when he made
ready for harvest. thought he must get
barrel Of whiskey for the men. But when
the great temperance movement arose,
farmers began to question the rights Of the
case. Some were ready to abandon the use
of it. willie all agreed that they never could
ret men vithout;it "hands" would not hire
where they thought whisky would not be
provided.
Then tie farmers wives raised their pr O.
les: against rum they said get your men
and we'll engage TO keep till every straw is
cut. hut we'll not use drop Of whisky"
They made cakes and cookies, buns and
rusl,s sandwiches and all sorts Of nice
things and carried to the men in the field,
ami when harvest was over they had great
free zers OF ice cream and pound cake to
feast the haryesters on. And the "hands"
Wny they were anxious to work for those
who fed so we'll, and instead of losing help
they had more than they wanted. 1t was
proven that these farmers who did not use
whisky in tie harvest field, had better
hands an did better work than these
that did. And SO the women with their
cookery carried the day, The 'piecs"
came 10 be an established custom, and ] ing
after whisky was generally discarded at
harvest time, the farmers wife still sent
her batch of cakes and rusks to regaie the
haryessers.