37

inches in diameter. The wheels are placed as near the front of the frame as possible, the reason for which will appear when the general description of the machine is given. The wheels B B are connected with the main axle (1), in such a manner as that they may turn upon it, similarly to a carriage-wheel, without moving the axle with them; or they can be fixed to it at pleasure, so as to turn it round with them as occasion requires. For this purpose, the holes in the naves are circular; and of course so much of the axle as passes through them is round. There are cross flenges, cast upon the nave, which catch hold of the coupling box E when the machinery is to be moved, and are disengaged from it by the handle F, when the machine is going, without moving the machinery. In the engraving, this part of the apparatus is entirely concealed at one of the wheels, except a small portion of the handle at a. The other coupling box is but faintly represented at E. The handle has a joint in it, which is fixed to the other half of it, which passes through the frame of the machine, and terminates with the handle H; so that both coupling boxes can be managed by the driver, standing at H, although they are on opposite sides of the frame. The main axle (D) is 33 feet long between the shoulders, and eight inches from the shoulders to the coupling box: the frame of the machine is four feet broad, by seven feet long. Fixed upon the main axle (D) is the beveled wheel (1) of sixty teeth, part of which is seen in the engraving. This beveled wheel moves two pinions of ten teeth each. These pinions are concealed in the plate by the frame of the machine: one of them turns the crank-rod (K), and the other gives motion to the coupling wheels (LL) upon the top of the frame. The crank-rod (K) being thus put in motion as the machine moves forward, the crank M, which gives motion to the cutters, revolves with a uniform and steady motion. N is a coupling strap of iron, which connects the crank (M) and the movable bar (o o) together, which is kept in its place by means of the sliding hooks (PP) working in the brass sockets (99) which are screwed upon the strong iron supports (RR) It is obvious that as the crank (M) revolves, it will, by pulling the connecting rod (N), give a perpetual motion backwards and forwards to the movable bar (oo). In order that there may be as little friction as possible to the movable bar (oo) there are two friction pulleys fixed to the iron supports (R R), upon which the movable bar (o o) rests. These are not seen in the plate, as they are placed immediately below the bar; but to any person who considers the thing attentively, they must be readily understood. They are of the greatest consequence, as the back parts of the cutters wholly rest upon the movable bar (o 0); and from the spring which each cutter must necessarily have, the pressure upon it is very considerable. With respect to the cutters, it may here be remarked that the greater body of them is made of iron, edged with the best steel, hardened as much as they will bear, without breaking out into chips when the machine is in operation. The cutter-bar (that is, the bar upon which the cutters are screwed) is strongly screwed upon the extremities of the supports (RR), and is six feet long, by three inches broad, and three fourths of an inch thick. The lower or fixed cutters (sss) are made triangular, of solid iron, edged with steel, as before mentioned: they are fifteen inches long from the point to the extremity, four inches broad at the base, and nearly one fourth of an inch thick: they are steeled only to the front of the bar, thus leaving a steeled edge of about one foot. In the middle of the base of the cutter there is a hole pierced, half an inch in diameter, and a corresponding one in the bar where it is to be placed. The hole in the bar is screwed; and, in fixing a cutter, a bolt is passed through the hole in the base, and screwed tightly down into the bar. To prevent a cutter from shifting its place, there are other two small holes pierced, one on each side of the half-inch hole in the base, and corresponding ones in the centre of the bar: these holes are one fourth of an inch in diameter. Into he holes in the bar there are two iron pins firmly riveted below, and left one eighth of an inch above the bar, made to fit neatly into the holes in the cutters, although with a sufficiency of looseness to allow the cutter to be taken easily off when the bolt in the middle is screwed out. By this means, when the bolt in the middle is screwed down, a firm and unalterable position is insured to the under cutter. The upper cutters (U U,) &c., like the under ones, are made of good iron, edged with steel as far back as the hole where the bolts upon which they turn pass through. They are three inches broad where the hole is pierced; and, behind the cutter-bar, as is seen in the plate, they are bent down about two inches, to allow the rollers and canvass to operate, as shall be afterwards described. After being continued horizontally about three inches, they are again bent up, and their extremities placed above the movable bar. They are made about 134 inches long from the point to the hole, and about 7 inches from the hole to the extremity backwards. Both upper and under cutters are sharpened on both sides, similarly to a pair of scissors; the under ones, of course, upon the upper side, and the upper ones upon the lower side; thus forming, when the cutters are screwed to their places, a perpetual cutter upon that principle. The bolts upon which the upper or movable cutters work are half an inch in diameter, and are screwed to the bar through a hole of corresponding breadth: they are made to go through the bar about half an inch, upon which a nut is screwed, to prevent the bolts from unscrewing, which they would otherwise do, from the moving of the cutters; which would allow the edges of the cutters to separate, and of course the machine would get deranged, and would not operate. The points of the under or fixed cutters are six inches separate; of course the holes in the bar, by which they are fixed, are six inches apart. The bolts of the upper or movable cutters are intermediate, that is, three inches from the others; so that the cutter-bar is bored from end to end with holes half an inch in diameter, and three inches distant. The small holes, with the pins which prevent the fixed cutters from shifting their places, are each 1 inch from the large holes; so that the bar, before the cutters are screwed upon it, is pierced first with a small hole, then a large one, then two small ones, then a large one, then two small ones, &c., as may be understood from the plate; each hole 14 inch apart. The back parts of the movable cutters, as was already mentioned, rest upon the movable bar; and on each side of every cutter there is an iron pin, of one fourth of an inch in diameter, riveted into the movable bar. By means of these pins, it is easily seen, from the consideration of the plate, that, as the movable bar is pushed backwards and forwards by the crank (M) upon the friction pulleys below it, the movable cutters will have a perpetual motion backwards and forwards. Under the heads of the bolts, which fasten the movable cutters, and the cutters themselves, there is placed a washer of brass, to diminish the friction as much as possible; and, for the admission of oil, there are two small holes pierced in the head of each bolt. There are twelve movable cutters, and thirteen fixed ones, with intervals of six inches between the points of the latter; so that the breadth of the machine is exactly six feet: but this breadth, from the principle of the machine, may be either increased or diminished, according to the nature of the farm upon which the machine is intended to operate. Upon a perfectly level farm the machine might be made broader; but upon a farm of sloping or uneven surface, one of six feet in breadth will be found to be work enough for two horses. As it was before stated, the beveled wheel (1) gives motion to the coupling wheels (LL) of 18 teeth each these move the horizontal shaft v, and the wheel w, which is fixed to the end of it. The whee w has 36 teeth; and pinion x, which it turns, and which is fixed upon the gudgeon of the roller y, has 18 teeth. This part, however, is misrepresented in the drawing, which was taken from a model which had the rollers turned by coupling wheels, as shown in the plate. The one roller (v) turns the other (2), by the pitch-chains (aa), the chief use of which is to keep the sheet of canvass from changing its place by the revolu tion of the rollers. The canvass, from its gravity, would slip down upon the rollers as the machine moved forward; and it would twist upon them, by the unequal pressure to which it is exposed by the cut corn pressing unequally upon it: to prevent these derangeinents, there are loops fixed to the canvass, which are made fast to the links of the chain, about six inches apart; and there being an equal number of links in both the upper and lower chains, and an equal number of teeth in the four pulleys upon which they work, the canvass revolves uniformly, without being in the least deranged by the many casualties to which it is exposed. b is the pole to which the horses are yoked: it is made of wood, and is firmly fixed to the cross rails upon the top of the frame: its length is ten feet from its extremity to the frame of the machine. cc are the swingletrees by which the horses are yoked: they are yoked similarly to horses in a carriage, so as both to draw forward, or push backward, at pleasure. Their heads, of course, are towards

;

SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.

the machine; and, in appearance, they push the machine before them, but, in reality, they are drawing PART II. the same as in the plough. d is a small rod of wood, or helm, which the driver holds in his right hand, by the pulling of which to him, or pushing it from him, he conducts the machine straight forward. The dotted lines in the plate are a continuation of the pole with the swingletrees and helm attached. machine is turned, at the end of the ridge, by the following contrivance:-The two wheels ee, in the body of the machine, are joined to the lever ƒ by an upright movable axle. These wheels are similar to the two (cc) on the front of the frame: they have a strong iron axle, which is made so long as to let the wheels The conveniently turn between the crank-rod (K) and the frame of the machine. In order that this piece of the apparatus may be used with advantage, the beveled wheel I is not placed upon the middle of the main axle (D), but about one foot from the end of it, as is seen in the engraving. This throws the crank-rod (K) nearer the side of the machine, thus leaving plenty of space for the turning apparatus. In the middle of the horizontal axle of the wheels e e there is an upright standard of iron, sufficiently strong, and firmly joined to the horizontal axle. This upright standard or axle passes through the middle of the lever f (which is of wood, and, at this part, about five inches square), about twenty inches from the end of it. Upon the top of the upright standard there is placed a segment of a wheel (), with the teeth on the lower side, which is worked by a small pinion of six teeth upon the end of the rod g. seen in the engraving, as it is completely concealed by the segment i. The rod g, and the small pinion upon it, are turned round by the handle h; the pinion moves the segment i, which, being firmly fixed to the upright standard, turns the small wheels e e either way. When the machine is cutting, the wheels ee This pinion is not are put parallel to the cutters; and in this position they assist the machine in passing a furrow, without allowing the cutters to come in contact with the opposite side of it. But when the machine is to be turned round, they are turned, with an angle to the path of the machine, by the handle h; and the rod g being fixed in that position by a screw near the handle, the lever is then pressed down, and fixed with a catch to the frame of the machine. In pressing down the lever f, the small wheels ee, which before were about two inches from the ground, are pressed to the earth, about two or three inches below the natural level of the machine. Of course, the two front wheels (c c) are lifted two or three inches from the ground, and the cutters considerably more, thus insuring them from accident while turning round. The machine now rests upon the two large wheels в B, and the two small ones ee of the lever; and the two front wheels (cc) go for nothing, as they do not touch the ground. But the axle of the small wheels e e being placed with an angle to the main axle (D) of the large wheels B B, the machine will naturally turn round upon the horses being moved slowly forward: of course, the greater the angle formed by the two axles, the less space will the machine require to turn upon. In turning the machine, however, attention must always be given to disengage the large wheels BB from the main axle (D): this is done by shifting the coupling boxes EE by means of the handles H H. The apparatus //, or collector, is placed exactly above the cutters: it is 2 feet in diameter, made of wood, as slight as may be. The supports kk, in the original machine, were made of iron; but now the two side-beams of the machine are made of a piece of wood, with a natural cast upon it, similar to the beam of a plough, but rising with a much greater angle, as near the form of the iron supports in the plate as possible, and continued horizontally till their points are exactly above the movable bar oo. The points p p are made of iron, bent as in the plate, to allow the collector () to turn round. At qqqq are strong iron screws, working in nuts placed in the wooden part of the supports, which serve the double purpose of uniting the iron part to the wood, and allowing it to be drawn forward, or pushed backward, as occasion may be, by either shifting to another hole, or, which is better, by long slips in the middle of the bar. Long corn requires the collector to be placed forward, and short corn requires it to be taken back. points of the supports; by the moving of which, upwards or downwards, the collector (11) which turns in Atoo are two perpendicular rods, which slip in holes in the sockets in the lower ends of these rods, is lowered, or heightened, according to the length of the corn to be cut. The rods are fixed in their places by screws in the end of the supports. The collector is turned by a cross belt, or chain, passing over the two pulleys m n. A piece of slight canvass is put round the rollers YZ, fixed to the chains a a, as before described. The lower ends of the rollers have a shield of plate iren round their gudgeons, to prevent the cut corn from warping, which it does effectually. The bushes of the roller z are made to shift by screws, to tighten the chains a little, to prevent them from slipping the pulleys, as they lengthen a little by using, especially when new. Fig. 376. is a representation of the machine in full operation. About six or eight yards of the field require to be cut at the ends to allow the machine to turn without injuring the corn, which may be done by the machine itself. If the corn is standing nearly upright, a convenient number of ridges may be taken in and cut by going round them; but if the corn is standing, and the field free from deep furrows, it may be cut by going round and round it till it is finished in the middle. One man, as seen in the plate, is sufficient to manage the whole operation. The cutting, collecting, and laying are the three principal parts of this machine, which have been all, more or less, explained in the general description given above. But as they are particular, a few words on each of these heads may still be necessary, that the machine may be completely understood in all its bearings. First, then, with regard to the cutting: it is desirable that the machine should do her work, and nothing more. If the motion of the cutters were too slow, she would not clear the ground; and if it were too quick, there would be a useless expenditure of power and machinery. Let it be remembered that the large outer wheels BB are 3 feet in diameter; that the beveled wheel 1 has sixty teeth; and that the crank-rod pinion has ten; and that the cutters have twelve inches of a cutting edge. The diameter of the wheels BB being 3 feet or forty-two inches, their circumferences are 131-94678 inches; every revolution of them will pass over nearly 132 inches of the ground's surface; but there being ten teeth in the crank-rod pinion, and sixty in the beveled wheel 1, every revolution of the wheels BB will turn the crank-pinion six times, and, of course, the crank as often. But every turn of the crank-pinion gives two cuts, and each stroke of the cutters clears twelve inches of the ground, because they have twelve inches of a cutting edge: therefore, one revolution of the wheels BB gives twelve strokes of the cutters, and clears twelve times twelve, or 144 inches of the surface of the ground. But one revolution of B B passes only over 132 inches of surface; therefore, the cutters are calculated to cut, in one revolution of BB, twelve inches more than enough, that is, one inch each stroke. This, however, is perhaps nothing more than is advisable to calculate upon, making allowances for the operation of the machinery, the partial dragging of the wheels, &c. &c. Secondly, the collector (1) must not move too slowly, lest it should retard the corn from falling upon the canvass; and it must not move too quickly, lest it should shake ripe grain. As before stated, it is 23 feet in diameter, that is, 94-2477 inches in circumference. But one revolution of B B passes over 132 inches of surface; therefore, that the collector (1) may just touch the corn, without bringing it back, or retarding it from naturally falling back, it must make 14 revolution for every one that BB makes. Since there are six arms in 11, every arm will touch the standing corn at equal distances of 157 inches. The pulley m makes six revolutions for one that BB makes: it is six inches in diameter, and the pulley n, upon the axle of 11, is nine inches; therefore m revolves 15 times for once that n turns round, and the collector (1) revolves four times for once that the large wheels BB revolve. But 4 x 942477=376-99 inches, the space passed through by the circumference of the collector, while the machine moves forward only 132; the difference of which is 24499, the space that the collector passes over more than the machine, during one revolution of BB. Therefore, every inch of the corn is brought back 1-54 inch nearly, by the collector, which is sufficient to insure its falling backwards upon the canvass; and yet it touches the corn so gently, that it is impossible that it can injure it in the smallest degree. A quicker and a slower motion, however, is advisable; which is easily given, by having two or three sheaves upon the pulleys m and n; and then, by shifting the belt, a different motion is produced. With regard to the canvass, it is necessary that it should revolve as much as the ground passed over by the machine; that is, while the wheels B B make one revolution, or pass over 132 inches of the surface, 132 inches at least of canvass should pass over the rollers. w, as before stated, has thirty-six teeth, and x eighteen, so that the roller y will give two revolutions for

1

one of w. But w revolves six times for one revolution of the wheels BB: hence the roller y will revolve twelve times for every revolution of B B. The diameter of the rollers is four inches; their circumferences, therefore, are nearly 12:56 inches, twelve revolutions of which will give 15072 inches. As before stated, one revolution of BB gives only 132 inches, wherefore there is a preponderance of motion, on the side of the canvass, of 18-72 inches for every revolution of BB. This velocity is necessary to insure the canvass of clearing itself in all cases; and, with a smart velocity, the cut corn is laid down with a greater angle to the path of the machine. It may here be observed, that it is often found convenient to have the canvass to lay down the corn on either side of the machine, according to the direction from which the wind is blowing. This may be done with a double wheel at x, with a handle in the usual method employed for reversing the motion of the rollers of the threshing machine. It were desirable, too, if possible, to have the canvass besmeared with a drying oil or gum, or some other substance which would prevent it from contracting with moisture; as the slightest shower, or dew of a morning, contracts it so much, as to render the implement useless until the corn is perfectly dry.

2738. An estimate of the probable value of Bell's reaping machine may be formed from the reports signed by numerous practical farmers, who were spectators to different trials made in 1828 and 1829. In September, 1828, the machine was tried at Powrie, in the county of Forfar, before between forty and fifty landed proprietors and practical agriculturists, who signed a declaration, stating " that the machine cut down a breadth of five feet at once, was moved by a single horse, and attended by from six to eight persons to tie up the corn; and that the field was reaped by this force at the rate of an imperial acre per hour." (Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 600.) In September, 1829, the machine was tried at Monckie in Forfar. shire, in the presence of a still greater number of persons, who attest that it cut, in half an hour, nearly half an English acre of a very heavy crop of oats, which were lodged, thrown about by the wind, and exceedingly difficult to harvest. It was tried in a number of other places in Forfarshire, Perthshire, and Fifeshire, and the general conviction appears to be, that it will soon come into as general use among farmers as the threshing machine. (Gard. Mag. vol. vi.) The price is, at present, between 304 and 351.; but if it were once in general use, probably the cost might be lowered; but even that price would be saved out of the usual sum paid for manual labour, during only one harvest, by an extensive farmer. Few men deserve better of his country, and indeed, of every civilised country where agriculture is practised, than Mr. Bell; for surely that invention must ultimately be of great benefit to men and women, which enables them to do by horses, oxen, or steam, that which they have hitherto done by a most severe description of manual labour, rendered doubly oppressive by the season of the year in which it must necessarily be performed.

2739. A machine for reaping, and at the same time sheaving corn, was invented in the year 1822, by Mr. Henry Ogle, school-master at Rennington, near Alnwick, Northumberland. In 1823, Messrs. Brown, iron founders in Alnwick, advertised that they would furnish machines of this sort complete for sheaving corn at the beginning of harvest. No farmer however could be found who would go to the expense. The operation of the machine was satisfactory, and it was estimated to cut fourteen acres per day. An engraving and description of it will be found in the Mechanic's Magazine, vol. v. p. 50. In the same work (vol. i. p. 145.) will be found an engraving of a mowing machine invented by Jeremiah Baily, of Chester County, United States, about 1821, and said to answer well, and to have been exten. sively used. Whoever contemplates further improvements in this description of machinery, would do well to begin by making himself master of all the foregoing inventions.

2740. Gladstone's machine for reaping beans (fig. 378.) has been used in several parts

378

d

fi

of Scotland with complete success. The framework of this machine is the same as that of a common plough. To this is added the knife (a), which is a plate of steel, screwed to a piece of wood, to keep it from bending up and down; this wood being screwed to the framework. There is a wheel (b) to keep the knife when in motion in a horizontal position. The cutting edge of the knife (c) has teeth, or serratures, on the upper side (d); the under side (e) is flat.

acres a day, with ease,

It

One horse and a man will cut with this machine from four to and perform the work as perfectly as by manual labour. 2741. A machine for reaping the heads or seed-pods of clover (fig. 379.), where the second growth of that crop is left to stand for seed, has been used in some parts of Norfolk and Suffolk. consists of a comb, the teeth of which are lance-shaped, very sharp, and set close. This comb is affixed horizontally to the fore part of the bottom of an open box or barrow, which is drawn by one horse and guided by a man, who empties the barrow in regular lines across the field by means of an implement (a), which serves also to clean the teeth.

2742. A machine for mowing clover hay has frequently been attempted, but not yet perfected. One by Plucknet, of the Blackfriars Road, London, succeeded tolerably, but never came into use: it consisted of circular knives put into rapid motion, and the cut stalks guided to one side by a revolving cradle, like that attached to corn scythes.