The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-11-05
MAMMOTH REAPERs FROM CALIFORNIA.


Correspondence Of The Progressive Farmer.
California is noted as the State
wherein large things prosper. Cali
fornia is represented at the Pan
American Exposition by counties ;
the counties are large and the ex-
hibits are large and important. The
State Legislature having failed in
its opportunities TO make an appro-
priation, the business men of certain
sections of the State came into the
breach with money and material suf-
fcient TO make an elaborate showing
in agriculture-especially the horti-
cultural end of it. In the Horticul-
ture Building Los Angeles county is
represented by a fine exhibit of
fruits, nuts and other productions of
the soil. Fresno county is equally
we'll represented in the fruit line
while San Joaquin county shows
some very elaborate agricultural ma
chinery. The model of a harvester
is here shown that has attracted per
haps more general interest than any
other one machine at the Exposition.
The model represents a machine that
outs swath 40 feet in width and re-.
quires 38 horses to pull it. This ma
chine will out, thresh, clean, reclean
and sack grain from % TO 45 acres per
day besides doing the work better,
cleaner and with less waste than any
method heretofore devised. Lest
the reader should think that this is
a visionary scheme it is we'll TO note
the fact that this has become the
method Of harvesting on the Pacific
Coast, and there are known to be
more than 1, 800 Of these machines in
use. 1t is a sight to be remembered
TO see one of these harvesters run by
a platoon of horses or a traction en-
gine or two, marching across wheat
field, meeting the standing grain and
leaving it cleaned, graded and sacked
ready for market. Mr.. Frank A.
Guernsey, who represents San Joa-
quin county, is courteously showing
this model TO Exposition visit
ors, one of whom asked if it was a
rug machine, The big 0foOter
works we'll on level ground, but the
hilly sections of the country are by
no means neglected, as what is called
a small machine is made for sidehill
work. Is is so built that the body
of the machine hangs on self-adjust-
ing chains which allows the wheels
TO adapt themselves to any angle
while the body of the machine re-
mains level. These machines will do
excellent work where the slopes are
80 steep that following it in a wagon
makes the experience very unpleas
ant. The sidehill machines cut a
swath only Is feet in width or about
twice the width of our eastern har
vesters, which illustrated the differ
ence between Eastern and Western
methods of securing a grain crop
after it has been grown and properly
ripened.
In the United States Government
exhibit the history of harvesting
may be followed through models that
give a very interesting account of
the efforts made by American in
ventors TO facilitate this work on
the farm. improvements in this
direction were probably never be
fore so graphically illustrated, but
in order TO reach the climax of the
story it is necessary to leave the
exhibit and pay visit
TO San JOAQUIN county in the Horti
culture Building, where this elabo
rate model explains the process of
cutting, threshing, cleaning and
soaking the wheat ready for market.
Why not? Our Western brethren
have simply built new edition OF
the reaper, marked the Gutter bar
$50 be extended indefinitely and |
is TO the side of a separator. |
Then they went to the barn and got
the tanning mill and fastened it to
Ehe other side, and borrowed al
Eheir neighbors' horses to draw the
outfit across the field.
The first attempts at running this
colossal aggregation of farm machin-
arv bv means of traction engine re-
l1ited disastrously. Sparks from
the smoke stack set fire to the
,tsndinp grain and a harvester was
not needed that year. Crude oil has,
1owever. taken the place of coal for
fuel and the underwriters are less
1t is still notloea PIE,
slough, that conservative farmers
c5 Z o,anrnan that don't use TO-