The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-02-20

but ii was not a success. Two hum
dred and forty patents had been grant
ed on these machines prior to 1926, but
not until 1910 were the machines per-
fected and available to farmers needs.
Up to this time the treading floor and
the ilal were the methods in thresh-
ing and ten bushels Of wheat dav
was good average for one man. Since
then more than 1000 patents have been
taken out on threshers until the mod
err steam machine. self-feeding and
stacking its own straw, pours a stream
Of winnowed grain into bags faster
than one man can remove them. Where
the great heading" machines are opcr-
ated. a steam thresher runs from 1000
to 5000 bushels of wheat in a day.
The reaping hook of thousand years
ago was used in the United States at
the beginning of the present century.
With his left hand the harvester
grasped the bearded grain in a bunch
and with the crescent blade cut the
straws at the ground. Thus by hand
fuls the sheaves were made and bound.
CYRUS II. MCORMICK'S MACHINE.
The scythe came next, being used
for grass cutting. Soon the finger at
tachmcnt above it was conceived and
the cradle" was adapted to the cut
ting of sheaves. The cradle was swung
after the manner of the scvthe blade.
the five wooden fingers about it catch
ing the straws as they were cut and
carrying them in bunch to the left.
out of the way of the next stroke.
Cyrus II. Mccormick revolutioned
4 -;xt 1.
chine. driven by horse power and in
volving the principle of the saw tooth
sickle. From the mower of the hay
field came the "dropper" of the grain
field-a fitting. sickle-bar attachment
through which the grain was carried
in straight punches until it was large
enough for a sheaf when a movement
of the drivers foot released it, A
trouble with the dropper. however, was
that it left the grain in the way of the
machine on its next round. From this
came the self-rakc machine which coll
lectod the bundle on platform. When
! 1t was of sufficient size the rake arm
dropped down and swept it in quar-
ter circle off the table, dropping it out
of the track of the machine on its next
! round.
In the perfection Of the self-rake it
| was thought that human ingenuity had
/ been exhausted in its work in the har-
/ vest field. Today one man and two
! horses. with a binding machine, go
round and round field. cutting the
! grain. measuring it into shcaves. bind
ing it, and carrying it. twelve sheaves
| in bunch. to the hands Of the one
| shock k-builder-the driver and the
"shocker" doing the work of dozen
men IN the time of the Mccormick
"dropper." The evolution of the bind
er. however, was through a stormy
: period. The United States scarcely
was ready for it when it came and in
| many states of the central west the
| displaced laborers of the harvest field
made war upon it burning barns and
! smashing the machines in the fields.
/ Now, with all the labor-saving devices
of farm machinery, the farmers of this
same territory complain Of a scarcity
| OF help in harvest-suggestive of the
fact that where machinery has un-
made one industry it has established
two more.
MAIN CHANCES REMAINING.
In every line of farm work the in
Ventor has eased the burdens of the
! man who tills the soil. The traction
engine has come to the aid of his
horses, and the chemist has put new
life into the very ground that Yields
him it's abundance Indian corn is the
giant of the cereals in crop production,
as it may be always. For this the in
ventor has done nothing save in the
7 fn,. ,,,,Ix 4 to-. \
| planting. Its billions of bushels ar,
harvested every year by the patient
hands of the farmer. The steel husk-
ing-peg is his only equipment and even
that seems to have been made accord
ing to his own specifications. The cot :
ton picker, too. has only his hands.
Both the corn field and the cotton
field have interested the inventor and
taxed his brain. but the revolution of
corn and cotton harvesting methods
| Is for the future.
Everywhere the yields from farm
, paintings and sowings are greater than
| they were from the virgin richness of
the country a hundred years ago.
! Even as between 1850 and 1890, tho
crop production of the United states
showed an increased per cent. of yield
to each acre. Crop rotations. improved
| machines in cultivatng and harvest
ing, and above all the once despised
book farming" are responsible for
the change. The successful farmer Of
today is a student i'm methods. lie
knows something in chemistry, he has
the benefit Of seed selections that
have been made according to the
! science of nature, and more than ever
In the worlds history he is exempt
from the stress of unfavorable sea-
sons.
In the United States he has ranked
agriculture above every other occupa
| tion lie has seen the evolution of the
| business within the last forty years.
Five million farms have been laid Ou,
over the country. valued at $1,000, 900,
ono and producing A,0on. .000, 900 annual-
ly in live stock and crops. Since 1860
he has seen nearly 2,cC0,0O0 ploddns
oxen released from the yoke as too
slow for service. He has made the
production of composts a great indus
try. An agricultural press has sprung
to life to wait upon his needs cities
of giant grain elevators have grown
up, and the millin. business of thu
United States has become ore of the
great industries. The cattle trails of
the West have been obiiterated by the
plow, but his blooded beeves bring
prices such as the cowboy never
dreamed Of in his round-ups Of the
"long- horns" of the prairies. Inven.
|0nQ Cent