Newcomen pattern. Improvements in a small way were added now and then
but no very important change was made until the latter part of the
eighteenth century, when the steam-engine was made by James Watt
practically what it is to-day. This great inventor spent years in making
improvements upon Newcomen's engine (Fig. 9) and when his labors were
finished he had done more for the steam-engine than any man who ever
lived. We must try to learn _what_ he did. We can learn what Watt did by
studying Figure 10. Here P is a piston working in a cylinder A _closed
at both ends_. By the side of the cylinder is a _valve-chest_ C into
which steam passes from the pipe T. Connecting C with the cylinder there
are _two_ openings, one at the top of the cylinder and the other at the
bottom. The valve-chest is provided with valves which are worked by
means of the rod F, which moves up and down with the beam B, thanks to
Humphrey Potter for the hint. The valves are so arranged that when steam
enters the opening at the top of the cylinder it is shut off from the
opening at the bottom, and when it enters the opening at the bottom it
is shut off from the opening at the top. When the opening at the bottom
is closed the steam will rush in at the upper opening and push the
piston downward; when the piston has nearly reached the bottom of the
cylinder the upper opening will be closed and steam will rush in at the
bottom of the steam chest and push the piston upwards. Here was _one_
of the things done by Watt for the engine: he contrived to make the
steam push the piston down as well as up. You have observed that in
Newcomen's engine steam was used only to push the piston _up_, the
atmosphere being relied upon to push it down. Thus we may say that
Watt's engine was the first _real steam-engine_, for it was the first
that was worked entirely by steam. All engines before it had been worked
partly by steam and partly by air.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--WATT'S ENGINE.]
Watt's greatest improvement upon the steam-engine is yet to be
mentioned. In Newcomen's engine when the cold water was injected into
the cylinder it cooled the piston and when steam was let into the
cylinder again a part of it, striking the cold piston, was condensed
before it had time to do any work and the power of this part of the
steam was lost. Watt did not allow the piston to get cold, for he did
not inject any cold water into the cylinder. In his engine as soon as
the steam did its work it was carried off through the pipe _M_ to the
vessel _N_ and there condensed by means of a jet of water which was
injected into _N_ (called the _condenser_) by means of a pump _E_ worked
by the motion of the beam, thanks again to Humphrey Potter for the idea.
This condensation of the steam outside of the cylinder and at a distance
from it prevented the piston (and cylinder) from getting cold. In other
words, in the Watt engine when steam entered the cylinder it went
straight to work pushing the piston. No steam was lost and no power was
lost and the cost of running the engine was greatly reduced.
It cannot be said that Watt invented the steam-engine--no one can claim
that honor--yet he did so much to make it better that he well deserves
the epitaph which is inscribed on his monument in Westminster Abbey.
This inscription is as follows:
NOT TO PERPETUATE A NAME
WHICH MUST ENDURE WHILE THE PEACEFUL ARTS
FLOURISH
BUT TO SHEW
THAT MANKIND HAVE LEARNT TO HONOR THOSE
WHO BEST DESERVE THEIR GRATITUDE
THE KING
HIS MINISTERS AND MANY OF THE NOBLES
AND COMMONERS OF THE REALM
RAISED THIS MONUMENT TO
JAMES WATT
WHO DIRECTING THE FORCE OF AN ORIGINAL
GENIUS
EARLY EXERCISED IN PHILOSOPHIC RESEARCH
TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF
THE STEAM ENGINE
ENLARGED THE RESOURCES OF HIS COUNTRY
INCREASED THE POWER OF MAN
AND ROSE TO AN EMINENT PLACE
AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FOLLOWERS OF
SCIENCE
AND THE REAL BENEFACTORS OF THE WORLD
BORN AT GREENOCH MDCCXXXVI
DIED AT HEATHFIELD IN STAFFORDSHIRE
MDCCCXIX
But the story of the steam-engine does not end with Watt. It will be
remembered that in the engines of Nero and of Branca the steam did its
work by reaction or by impulse. Now soon after the time of Watt,
inventors turned their thoughts to the old engines of Nero and Branca
and began to experiment with engines that would do their work by a
direct impact of steam. After nearly a century of experimenting and
after many failures there was at last developed an engine known as the
_steam-turbine_. In this engine the steam does its work by impinging or
pushing directly upon blades (Fig. 11) which are connected with the
shaft which is to be turned, and it does this in much the same manner
that we saw the steam do its work in Branca's engine. One of the
greatest names connected with the steam turbine is that of Charles
Algernon Parsons of England. In 1884 this great inventor patented a
steam-turbine which proved to be a commercial success and since that
date the steam-turbine has been constantly growing in favor. So great
has been its success on land and on sea that there are those who believe
that the engine invented by Watt will in time be cast aside and that its
place will be taken by an engine which is the most ancient as well as
the most modern of steam motors.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--SHAFT OF A LARGE MARINE TURBINE.
Within the cylinder are thousands of blades upon which the steam acts
directly in the turning of the shaft. In the largest turbines there are
as many as 50,000 blades.]
THE PLOW
You have now learned the history of those inventions which enabled man
to gain a mastery over fire and to use it for his comfort and
convenience. We shall next learn the history of an invention which gave
man the mastery of the soil and enabled him to take from the earth
priceless treasures of fruit and grain. This invention was the plow.
In his earliest state man had no use for the plow because he did not
look to the soil as a place from which he was to get his food. The first
men were hunters and they relied upon the chase for their food. They
roamed from place to place in pursuit of their prey--the birds and
beasts of the forest and the fishes of the stream. They did not remain
long enough in one spot to sow seed and to reap the harvest. Still in
their wanderings they found wheat and barley growing wild and they ate
of the seeds of these plants and learned that the little grains were
good for food. They learned, too, that if the seeds were planted in a
soil that was well stirred the plants would grow better than they would
if the seeds were planted in hard ground. So by the time men had grown
tired of wandering about and were ready to settle down and live in one
spot they had learned two important facts: they knew they could add to
their food supply by tilling the soil, and they knew that they could
grow better crops if they would stir the soil before planting the seed.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--THE KATTA OR DIGGING STICK.]
For the stirring of the soil the primitive farmer doubtless first used a
sharpened stick such as wandering tribes carry for the purpose of
digging up eatable roots, knocking fruits down from trees, and breaking
the heads of enemies. Such a stick known as the _Katta_ (Fig. 1) is
carried by certain tribes in Australia, and we are told by travelers
that the Kurubars of Southern India use a sharp stick when digging up
the ground. The digging stick is used by savages in many parts of the
world and we may regard it as the oldest of implements used for tilling
the soil.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE FIRST PLOW.]
The first plow was a forked stick or a limb of a tree with a projecting
point (Fig. 2). With this implement the ground was broken not by digging
but by dragging the fork or projecting point of the stick through the
ground and forming a continuous furrow. In this forked stick we see two
of the principal parts of the modern plow. The fork of the stick is the
_share_, or cutting part of the plow, while the main part of the stick
is the _beam_.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--THE SYRIAN PLOW KNOWN AS JOB'S PLOW.]
An improvement upon the simple forked stick is seen in Figure 3, which
is copied from an ancient monument in Syria (in Asia Minor). The old
Syrian plow consists almost wholly of the natural crooks of a branch of
a tree, the only artificial piece being the brace e which connects the
share and the beam and holds them firm. In this crooked stick we have
three of the main parts of the modern plow, the beam (a), the share
(c-b) and the handle (d). The plow in this form requires the services of
two persons--one to draw the plow and one to guide it and keep it in the
ground. It is said that it was with a plow of this kind that the
servants of Job were plowing when they were driven from their fields by
the Sabeans.
The first plows were drawn by the strength of the human body (Fig. 4).
Upon a very old monument of ancient Egypt, the country which seems to
have been the first home of the plow, we have a plowing scene which
shows a number of men dragging a plow by means of a rope. But primitive
man was not at all fond of labor and in the course of time he tamed wild
bulls and horses and made them draw the plows. So upon another Egyptian
monument of a later date we have a picture of a plowing scene in which
animals are drawing the plow (Fig. 5). In this Egyptian plow we see
improvements upon the crooked stick of the Syrians. The Egyptian plow,
you observe, has a broader share. It will, therefore, make a wider
furrow and will plow more ground. Moreover, it has two handles instead
of one. Taking it altogether, the Egyptian plow was a fairly good
implement.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--PLOW DRAWN BY HUMAN LABOR.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--THE EGYPTIAN PLOW.]
Many centuries passed before any real improvement was made upon the old
Egyptian plow. If there were any improvement anywhere it was among the
Romans. We read in Pliny--a Roman writer of the first century--of a
plow that had wheels to regulate the depth of the plow and also a
_coulter_, that is, a knife fixed in front of the share to make the
first cut of the sod (Fig. 6). But such a plow was not in general use in
Pliny's time. A thousand years later, however, the plow with wheels and
coulter was doubtless in common use. In a picture taken from an old
Saxon print we see (Fig. 7) a plow which was used in the time of William
the Conqueror (1066). Here the plow has a coulter inserted in the beam
and there are two wheels to regulate the depth to which the plow may go.
This Saxon plow is drawn by four fine oxen and it is plainly a great
improvement upon the old Egyptian plow.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--PLINY'S PLOW, 70 A. D.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--AN OLD SAXON PLOW, 1000 A. D.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--A DOUBLE PLOW OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
(This plow was proposed but was never made.)]
But improvements in the plow during the dark ages came very slowly. At
the time of the discovery of America the plow was still the clumsy
wooden thing it was five hundred years before. In the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, however, when improvements were being made in so
many things, it was natural that men should begin to think of trying to
improve the plow. In an old book published in 1652 we read of a double
plow--one which would plow two furrows at one time. A picture (Fig. 8)
of the double plow is given in the book but there is no proof that such
a plow was ever made or ever used. The world did not as yet need a
double plow, although the time was to come when it would need one.
In the early part of the eighteenth century we begin to see real
improvements in plow making. About this time Dutch plowmakers began to
put _mold-boards_ on their plows. The purpose of the mold-board is to
lift up and turn over the slice of sod cut by the share. Without the
mold-board the plow simply runs through the ground and stirs it up.
With the mold-board of the Dutch plow (Fig. 9) the sod was turned
completely over and the weeds and grass were covered up. This was the
kind of plow that was needed, for if the weeds and grass are not covered
up the best effects of plowing are lost. So the mold-board was a great
improvement and its invention marks a great event in the history of the
plow.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--THE DUTCH PLOW SHOWING THE MOLD-BOARD.]
The Dutch plow was taken as a model for English plows and, in fact, for
the plows of all nations. The mold-board grew rapidly into favor and by
the end of the eighteenth century it was found on plows in all civilized
nations. But the plow was still made mostly of wood (Fig. 10) and it was
still an awkward and a poorly constructed affair. The method of making
plows about the year 1800 has been described as follows: "A mold-board
was hewed from a tree with the grain of the timber running as nearly
along its shape as it could well be obtained. On to this mold-board, to
prevent its wearing out too rapidly, were nailed the blade of an old
hoe, thin strips of iron, or worn out horseshoes (Fig. 10). The land
side was of wood, its base and sides shod with thin plates of iron. The
share was of iron with a hardened steel point. The coulter was tolerably
well made of iron. The beam was usually a straight stick. The handles,
like the mold-board, were split from the crooked trunk of a tree or as
often cut from its branches. The beam was set at any pitch that fancy
might dictate, with the handles fastened on almost at right angles with
it, thus leaving the plowman little control over his implement, which
did its work in a very slow and most imperfect manner."
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--A COLONIAL PLOW.]
But about the end of the eighteenth century the world was beginning to
need a plow that would do its work rapidly and well. Population was
everywhere increasing and it was necessary to till more ground than had
ever been tilled in former times. Especially was a good plow needed in
the United States where there were vast areas of new ground to be
broken. And it was in the United States that the first great
improvements in the plow were made. Foremost among those who helped to
make the plow a better implement was the statesman, Thomas Jefferson.
This great man while traveling in France in 1788 was struck by the
clumsiness of the plows used in that country. In his diary he wrote:
"The awkward figure of their mold-board leads one to consider what
should be its form." So Jefferson turned his attention to mold-boards.
He saw that the mold-board ought to be so shaped that it would move
through the ground and turn the sod with the least possible resistance
and he planned for a mold-board of this kind. By 1793 he had determined
what the proper form of a mold-board should be and had in actual use on
his estate in Virginia several plows which had mold-boards of least
resistance. Mr. Jefferson's patterns of the mold-board have, of course,
been improved upon, but he has the honor of having invented the first
mold-board that was constructed according to scientific and mathematical
principles.[12]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--DANIEL WEBSTER'S PLOW.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--JETHRO WOOD'S PLOW, 1819.]
About the time Jefferson was working upon the mold-board, Charles
Newbold, a farmer of Burlington, New Jersey, was also doing great things
for the improvement of the plow. We have seen that the plow of this time
was a patch work of wood and iron. Newbold thought the plow ought to be
made wholly of iron and about 1796 he made one of cast iron, the point,
share, and mold-board all being cast in one piece. But the New Jersey
farmers did not take kindly to the iron plow. They said that iron
poisoned the crops and caused weeds to grow faster than ever. So Newbold
could not sell his plows and he was compelled to give up the business in
despair.
But soon the iron plow was to have its day. In 1819 Jethro Wood of
Scipio, New York, took out a patent for a plow which was made of cast
iron and which combined the best features of the plow as planned by
Jefferson and by Newbold. In Wood's plow (Fig. 12) the several
parts--the point, share and mold-board--were so fastened together that
when one piece wore out it could easily be replaced by a new piece. In
Newbold's plow when one part wore out the whole plow was rendered
useless. Wood's plow became very popular and by 1825 it was rapidly
driving out the half-wooden, half-iron plows of the olden time. Great
improvements of course have been made upon the plow since 1819, but in
the main features the best plows of to-day closely resemble the
implement invented by Jethro Wood. Since our greatness as a nation is
due largely to the plow all honor should be given to the memory of this
inventor. "No citizen of the United States," said William H. Seward,
"has conferred greater benefits on his country than Jethro Wood."
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--THE GANG PLOW DRAWN BY HORSES.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--PLOWING BY STEAM.
The plow is drawn across the field by means of cables. Sometimes a
traction engine moves along with the plow.]
But the plow of Jethro Wood, as excellent as it was, did not fully meet
the needs of the western farmer. The sod of the vast prairies could not
be broken fast enough with a plow of a single share. So about the middle
of the nineteenth century the _gang plow_, a hint for which had been
given long before (p. 78) was invented, and as this new plow moved along
three or four or five furrows were turned at once. At first the gang
plow was drawn by horses (Fig. 13) but later it was drawn by steam (Fig.
14).
The great gang plow drawn by steam marked the last step in the
development of the plow. The forked stick drawn by human hands and
making its feeble scratch on the ground had grown until it had become a
mighty machine drawn across the field by an unseen force and leaving in
its wake a broad belt of deeply-plowed and well-broken soil.
FOOTNOTE:
[12] Daniel Webster was another great statesman who turned his attention
to the making of plows. He planned a plow (Fig. 11) and had it made in
his workshop on his farm at Marshfield. When the plow was ready for use,
Webster himself was the first man to take hold of the handles and try
it. The plow worked well and the great man is said to have been as much
delighted with his achievement as he was with any of his triumphs in
public life at Washington.
THE REAPER
After man had invented his rude plow and had learned how to till the
soil and raise the grain, it became necessary for him to learn how to
harvest his crop, how to gather the growing grain from the fields. The
invention of the plow, therefore, must have soon been followed by the
invention of the _reaper_.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--PRIMITIVE SICKLES.]
The first grain was doubtless cut with the rude straight knives used by
primitive man. In time it was found that if the knife were bent it would
cut the grain better. So the first form of the reaper was a curved or
bent knife known as the sickle or reaping hook (Fig. 1). The knife was
fastened at one end to a stick which served as a handle. When using the
sickle the harvester held the grain in one hand and cut it with the
other. (Fig. 2).
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--REAPING WITH THE SICKLE.]
_When_ the sickle first began to be used is of course unknown. Among
the remains of the "stone age" (p. 39) are implements of flint which
resemble the sickle, while among the remains of the so-called "bronze
age" many primitive sickles made of bronze have been found. Nor do we
know _where_ the sickle was first used, although Egypt seems to have
been the first home of the sickle just as it was the first home of the
plow. Upon the wall of a building of ancient Thebes is a picture of an
Egyptian harvest scene. Two men with sickles are cutting the wheat. A
man following the reapers seems to be gleaning, that is, picking up the
wheat that the reapers have cut. Other harvesters are carrying the grain
to the threshing place where it is tramped out by the slow feet of oxen.
A primitive sickle such as was used by the Egyptians was used by all
civilized nations in ancient times, by the Hebrews, by the Greeks, and
by the Romans.
The first improvement upon the primitive sickle was made by the Romans.
About the year 100 A. D. the Roman farmers, who were at the time the
best farmers in the world, began to use a kind of scythe for cutting
grass. The Roman scythe was simply an improved form of the sickle; it
was a broad, heavy blade fastened on a long straight handle, resembling
the pruning hook of to-day (Fig. 3). The scythe was swung with both
hands and it was used chiefly for cutting grass.
For more than a thousand years after the appearance of the Roman scythe
agriculture in Europe was everywhere neglected and little or no
improvement was made in farming implements. About the end of the Middle
Ages, however, improvements in the form of the scythe began to appear.
In Flanders farmers began to use an implement known as the Hainault
scythe (Fig. 4). This scythe had a fine broad blade and a curved handle.
When reaping with this scythe the reaper with his left hand brought the
stalks of grain together with a hook and with his right hand he swung
the scythe and cut the grain. This scythe was an improvement upon the
sickle but it was still a very awkward implement.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--AN EARLY SCYTHE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--THE HAINAULT OR FLEMISH SCYTHE, WITH HOOK.]
The Hainault or Flemish scythe was followed by the _cradle scythe_. On
this scythe (Fig. 5) there were wooden fingers running parallel to the
blade. These fingers, called the cradle, caught the grain as it was cut
and helped to leave it in a bunch. In the early cradle-scythe the
fingers were few in number and they ran along the blade for only a part
of its length, but in America during the colonial period the cradle was
improved by lengthening the fingers and increasing their number. At the
time of the Revolution the improved American cradle was coming into use
and by the end of the eighteenth century it was driving out the sickle.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--EARLY FORM OF THE CRADLE SCYTHE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--THE IMPROVED CRADLE SCYTHE.]
But even the excellent American cradle-scythe could not meet the needs
of the American farmer. The cast iron plow which was brought into use in
the early part of the nineteenth century (p. 82) made it possible to
raise fields of wheat vastly larger than had ever been raised before.
But it was of no use to raise great fields of grain unless the crop
could be properly harvested. Wheat must be cut just when it is ripe and
the harvest season lasts only a few days. If the broad American fields
were to be plowed and planted there would have to be a reaping machine
that would cut the grain faster than human hands could cut it with the
scythe (Fig. 6).
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--THE FIRST REAPING MACHINE, 70 A. D.]
So about the year 1800 inventors in Europe and in America took up the
task of inventing a new kind of reaper. The first attempts were made in
England where population was increasing very fast and where large
quantities of grain were needed to feed the people. The first hints for
a reaper were from a machine which was used in Gaul nearly 2,000 years
ago. Pliny, who described for us a wonderful plow used in his time (p.
77), also describes this ancient reaper of the Gauls. It consisted of a
large hollow frame mounted on two wheels (Fig. 7). At the front of the
frame there was a set of teeth which caught the heads of grain and tore
them off. The heads were raked into the box by an attendant. The machine
was pushed along by an ox. This kind of machine was doubtless used in
Europe for a while but it was not a success. It passed out of use and
for many centuries it was entirely forgotten. Still, the first English
reaping machines were made after the plan of this interesting old reaper
of ancient Gaul.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--OGLE'S REAPER, 1822.]
The most remarkable of the early reapers was one invented by Henry Ogle,
a schoolmaster of Remington, England. In 1822 Ogle constructed a model
for a reaper which was quite different from any that had appeared before
and which bore a close resemblance to the improved reapers of a later
date. In Ogle's reaper (Fig. 8) the horse walked ahead beside the
standing grain, just as it does now, and the cutting apparatus was at
the right, just as it is now. The cutter consisted of a frame at the
front of which was a bar of iron armed with a row of teeth projecting
forward. Directly under the teeth lay a long straight edged knife which
was moved to and fro by means of a crank and which cut the grain as it
came between the teeth. A reel pushed the grain toward the knife and
there was a platform upon which the grain when cut might fall. Ogle's
machine did not meet with much success yet it holds a very high place
in the history of reaping machines, for it had nearly all the parts of a
modern reaper.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--THE FIRST MCCORMICK REAPER.]