Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/348

Rh 322 AGRICULTURE [MACHINES AND required distance apart. This does not dispense with the after use of the hand-hoe or fingers to effect a perfect singling of the plants ; but as a large space can be gone over in a day at small cost, it enables the farmer to save his crop from getting overgrown and choked until he can overtake the more perfect thinning of it. The next class that claims attention is Section 12. Harvesting Implement*. These, till little more than twenty years ago, comprised only the reaping-hook and scythe. An implement by means of which horse-power could be made available for this important operation has long been eagerly desired by farmers. Repeatedly during the first half of the present century their hopes had been excited, only to be disappointed, by the announcement of successful inventions of this kind. These hopes were revived, and raised to a higher pitch than ever, by the appearance, in the Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations, of two reaping-machines, known as M Connick s and Hussey s, from the United States of America, where for several years they had been used extensively and successfully. These implements were subjected to repeated trials in different parts of England, on crop 1851, but never in circumstances which admitted of their capabilities being tested in a thoroughly satisfac tory manner. At the first of these trials, made under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural Society, the preference was given to M Cormick s, to which the Exhibition Medal was in consequence awarded. It turned out, however, that at this trial Hussey s machine had not a fair chance, being attended by a person who had never before seen it at work, for, when a further trial took place before the Cleveland Agricultural Society, with Mr Hussey himself super intending his own machine, an all but unanimous decision was given in his favour. Hussey s machine was in conse quence adopted by the leading implement makers, such as Messrs Garrett, Crosskill, &c. Early in 1852, a very important communication from the pen of the late Mr James Slight, curator of the museum of the Highland and Agricultural Society, appeared in the Transactions of the Society, by which the attention of the public was recalled to a reaping-machine of home production, viz., that invented by the Rev. Patrick Bell, minister of the parish of Carmylie in Forfarshire, and for which a premium of 50 had been awarded to him by the Highland Society. This machine attracted much attention at that time. Considerable numbers were made and partially used, but from various causes the invention was lost sight of, until, by the arrival of these American machines, and the notoriety given to them by the Great Exhibition, with concurring causes about to be noticed, an intense interest was again excited regarding reaping by machinery. From Mr Slight s report, the public learned that the identical Bell s machine, to which the prize was awarded, had for the previous fourteen years been statedly employed on the farm of Inch-Michael in the Carse of Gowrie, occupied by Mr George Bell, a brother of the inventor, who, during all that period, had succeeded in reaping, on the average, four-fifths of his crop by means of it every year. Mr Slight further stated, that at least four specimens of it had been carried to America, and that from the identity in principle between them and those now brought thence, with other corroborating circumstances, there is little doubt that the so-called American inventions are after all but imitations of this Scottish machine. When it became known that Bell s machine was to be exhibited, and, if possible, subjected to public trial, at the meeting of the Highland and Agricultural Society at Perth, in August 1852, the event was looked forward to by Scottish farmers Avith eager interest. On that occasion it was accordingly again brought forward, with several important improve ments made upon it, by Mr George Bell, already referred to, and was fully tested in competition with Hussey s, as made by Crosskill. To the disappointment of many, Mr M Cormick did not think fit to enter the lists at this or at some subsequent opportunities. The success of Bell s machine on this occasion, and at some subsequent public trials, gave it a high place in public estimation, and accordingly many of the implements manu factured by Mr Crosskill of Beverley, were sold to farmers in all parts of Great Britain, and especially in Scotland. After a hopeful start the success of this machine has not been so decided as was at first anticipated. In common with other reaping-machines, it had of course to contend with the disadvantages of unprepared fields and unskilful guides ; but in addition to this, it was found to be too heavy in draught, too liable to derangement, and (in the first issues of it) too easily broken in some of its parts to be fitted for general use. These drawbacks were, to a greater or less extent, obviated by subsequent improvements, and the machine continued for a few years to receive a fair measure of public patronage. By-and-by it was in a great measure superseded by other self-delivery machines, such as Burgess & Key s M Cormick, with its Archimedean screw, which, like Bell s, lays off the reaped grain in a continuous swathe, and by others which, by means of revolving rakes, lay it off in quantities suitable to form a sheaf. In crops of moderate bulk and standing erect, these self-delivery machines make rapid and satisfactory work, but when the crop is lodged and twisted they are nearly useless. The consequence is that for several years, and especially in those districts where reaping by machinery is most practised, the preference is given to manual-delivery machines, on the ground that they are lighter of draught, less liable to derange ment, less costly, more easily managed, and thus more to be depended upon for the regular performance of a fair amount of daily work, than their heavier rivals. And, accordingly, light machines on Hussey s principle, but with endless variations, are at present most in demand. Before leaving this subject, a remark is due in connection with the strange neglect of Bell s machine for twenty-five years, and the enthusiasm with which it was hailed on its reappearance. The first is so far accounted for by the fact noticed by Mr George Bell, that such specimens of his brother s machine as formerly got into the hands of farmers were so imperfectly constructed that they did not work satisfactorily, and thus brought discredit on his invention. The true explanation seems to be, that at that date the country was not ready for such a machine. Not only was manual labour then abundant and cheap, from the number of Irish labourers, who annually, as harvest drew near, flocked into the arable districts of Great Britain, but thorough draining had made little progress, and the land was everywhere laid into high ridges, presenting a surf ace peculiarly unfavourable for the successful working of a reaping-machine. Now, however, the conditions are reversed. Emigration to the colonies, and the ever-growing demand for labourers in connection with factories, mines, docks, and railways, have to a very great extent withdrawn the class of people that used to be available for harvest work, and have so largely raised the rate of wages to those who still remain as to render reaping-machines indispensable to the farmer. The pro gress of thorough draining has at the same time enabled him to dispense with the old-fashioned ridges and furrows, and to lay his corn lands in the level state so favourable for reap ing and other operations of husbandry. In these altered conditions lies the true explanation of the former apathy and subsequent enthusiasm manifested by our farmers to wards this invention.