Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Inventions that changed farming from a hand operation to the way
we know it in America today, and the men that made the progress
possible, are featured in a new book, ‘The Grain
Harvesters.’
Pictures aplenty help tell the storyCyrus Hall McCormick and
Obed Hussey, both of reaper fame; C. W. March, inventor of the
March Harvester, who later became editor of the Farm Implement
News; Daniel Massey, pioneer Ontario farmer and founder of the
Massey Works; and J. I. Case and John Deere are just a few of the
featured giants who put farming mechanization vast strides
ahead.
The book was written by Dr. Graeme R. Quick and Dr. Wesley F.
Buchele and published by the American Society of Agricultural
Engineers. Dr. Quick is a research scientist with the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia. Dr.
Buchele is a professor in the Department of Agricultural
Engineering at Iowa State University.
The McCormicks began building twine binders equipped with the
Appleby knotter in 1881. They introduced their light steel binder
in 1888. It was lighter by the weight of a man.
The book ‘is the story of the tools, machines and systems
used throughout history to harvest grain.’
That’s a big goal. You can rest assured that it is
reached.
Harvesting techniques are traced from the days of antiquity to
modern times, and a look is taken at the prospects for tomorrow.
The fact is noted that, in spite of dramatic mechanical advances,
in parts of the world today grain is harvested by hand with simple
tools. Perhaps half of the world’s population is fed in this
manner.
The development of the reaper, harvester and binder, steam
threshers, and combines and other machines are explained.
The authors tell how mergers created the giants of the farm
machinery industry such as International Harvester, Deere and
Company, Allis Chalmers and Massey-Ferguson.
One chapter explains the growth of agriculture in Australia; how
its unique problems were overcome. Today it is a major grain
exporting nation.
One especially interesting chapter is ‘The Golden Era of
Steam and Big Threshers.’
Some of the problems of steam are pointed out. The danger of
explosions, the difficulty in crossing bridges, the need for a lot
of water, and the hazard of fire are cited.
This chapter tells of ‘the aura of glamour’ that is
still seen today in steam shows and threshing days, and how
‘the engineer and crew took quiet pride in their ability to set
up the thresher and have the rig working within the shortest
possible time.’
Any steam engine fan should enjoy this chapter.
Of all the activities of man, the most basic is agriculture.
Drs. Quick and Buchele, in their preface, state that ‘if
mankind were suddenly deprived of all source of grain and seeds for
even a year, all human and most animal life would vanish from the
face of the earth.’
Harvesting of grain, then, becomes vital, and the story of
harvesting through the centuries should be one of the most
fascinating chapters in the book of man.
‘The Grain Harvesters’ captures some of this fascination
as it deals with problems, inventions, men and machines. It is
filled with illustrations. Old photographs, charts illustrating
mergers, drawings, maps, and cartoons, make the book pictorially
very attractive.
‘The Grain Harvesters’ can be ordered from: Stemgas
Publishing Company, Box 328, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17604 $15.75 a
copy postpaid.
The flop-over or revolving hay rake was one of the first
implements to be built by A. Harris and Son Harris’ Beamsville,
Ontario works founded in 1857.
1912 Massey-Harris No. 3 Reaper-Thresher designed for the
Argentine market was similar to the Australian No. 2, but had a
large bat reel and knife to replace the comb-type front of the No.
2
WHAT WOULD THE FARMERS OF THE PRESENT THINK OF HAULINC THE
WEICHT OF A MAN AROUND ON THE BINDER?
