“ American Machines.—In American machines the straw, cavings, &c, are caught in a blast at the rear end of the machine and blown up in a light iron pipe of about 18 in. diameter on to the top of the stack, and the grain is delivered loose at the side through a spout into a box wagon. As the payment for thrashing is per bushel the grain is usually passed through a self-registering weighing apparatus, so that accurate account is kept of the bushels thrashed. ”

“ All ancient barns were constructed with large doors giving on to the thrashing floor and opening in the direction of the prevailing winds so that the wind could blow right through the barn and across the thrashing floor for the purpose of winnowing the corn. ”

“ Fig. 4.—American “Separator” with self-feeder and fan-blast delivery-pipe for straw. (Avery Manufacturing Co., Peoria, Illinois.)
sacks this rough-and-ready measure is accepted. On American machines self-feeders are adopted, in which the sheaves are thrown on to a travelling web which carries them under revolving knives to cut the bands and deliver them loose into the drum, so that while many more bushels of grain are passed per day through an American machine than is done in Great Britain, only about half the men are required at the work. ”

“ There are modifications on the machine described—such as single fan-blast instead of double, &c.—but the general principles are the same. The concave which surrounds the drum is made adjustable, so that it can be regulated according to the nature of the crop to be thrashed. An ordinary machine will thrash all usual farm crops, but great care has to be taken in adjusting the concave or the seed will be injured. Clover, however, is twice
Fig. 3.—Thrashing Machine with fan-blast straw-stacker. ”

“ An improvement on this, as the quantity further increased, was the practice of the ancient Egyptians and Israelites of spreading out the loosened sheaves on a circular enclosure of hard ground 50 to 100 ft. in diameter, and driving oxen, sheep or other animals round and round over it so as to tread out the grain. ”

“ Still, these machines were stationary, being generally built up in homesteads and operated by water power, and the unthrashed corn had to be brought to them. Portable thrashing machines operated by horse power were used to a small extent, but the work was very hard on the horses and took them away when their services were otherwise required on the farm. ”

“ The drum is carried on the main shaft and all other pulleys take their motion. from it directly or indirectly. Sometimes the main shaft is lengthened to accommodate another pulley and so drive a chaff-cutter behind and chaff up the straw as it leaves the thresher. In some districts an elevator is driven behind to stack the straw. Others use a trusser, which ties the straw into large. ”

“ The flail consisted of two pieces of wood, the handstaff or helve and the beater, fastened together loosely at one end by a thong of raw hide or eelskin, which made a very durable join. The handstaff is a light rod of ash about 5 ft. long, slightly increasing in girth at the farther end to allow for the hole for the thong to bind it to the beater. ”

“ The farmer finds the coal and the men and horses to cart water to the engine and corn to the barn and pays the proprietor of the thrashing outfit, who finds all the other men, about the following rates: wheat, 1s. ”