The self-binding harvester was borne on the shoulders of the Marsh
harvester. Carpenter, Locke, Gordon, Appleby and every inventor who
succeeded in any measure in binding grain, first did so by placing his
binding attachment upon a Marsh harvester, taking the grain from a
receptacle where it fell to another receptacle where it was bound. The
first record of these attempts is a patent granted to J. E. Heath, of
Warren, Ohio, in 1850. Watson, Renwick and Watson secured patents in
1851 and 1853, but their machines were very complicated and never more
than experiments. From that time until 1865 many patents were granted,
none of which may be considered successful.
In 1865 S. D. Locke of Janesville secured a patent which ultimately
developed into the Withington wire binder first put out by McCormick in
1875.
The Withington machine was an improvement on the binding device patented
by Locke in 1865. McCormick built 50,000 of these machines between 1877
and 1885. It was a simple mechanism which consisted mainly of two steel
fingers that moved back and forth and twisted a wire band around each
sheaf of grain.
Farmers did not take kindly to the wire binder. They said that wire
would mix with the straw and kill their horses and cattle.
The Twine Binder.
[Illustration: THE DEERING TWINE BINDER OF 1879
This is the perfected Marsh harvester with a perfected Appleby twine
binding attachment and was first put out by the Deering Company in
1879.]
[Illustration: THE MCCORMICK TWINE BINDER OF 1881 WITH THE APPLEBY
BINDING ATTACHMENT, WHICH USED TWINE INSTEAD OF WIRE]
[Illustration: A TRACTOR PULLING FIVE HARVESTER BINDERS
These machines cut a swath 40 feet wide in the grain field, gathering
the grain into bundles and dropping them alongside to be picked up by
the sweep rake.]
This was the situation in the harvesting industry about the time that
William Deering took an active interest. He looked about for a better
machine. He found John F. Appleby, who, in 1878, had perfected a twine
binder attachment. When Deering saw the strong steel arms flash a cord
around a bundle of grain, tie a knot, cut the cord and fling off the
sheaf, he knew he had what the world needed. Appleby began working on
his invention in 1858, but accomplished nothing until 1869 when he took
out his first patent on a “wire binder.” In 1874 he began what is known
as the Appleby twine binder, operating one in 1875 and 1876 and several
in 1877. In 1879 Deering bought out Gammon, joined forces with Appleby,
moved the factory from Plano to Chicago in 1880, and began putting out
twine binders. In 1881 McCormick, also, and Champion began building the
Appleby binder.
[Illustration: THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER NOW USES A MECHANICAL MANURE
SPREADER TO INCREASE THE PRODUCTIVENESS OF HIS LAND
The modern spreader is built low and equipped with a special wide spread
attachment which throws the manure well beyond the wheels.]
[Illustration: A GRAIN DRILL WITH DISK AND CHAIN ATTACHMENTS
This drill is large enough to require the strength of four horses to
pull it.]
[Illustration: A SMALL KEROSENE TRACTOR CAN PULL TWO OR THREE GRAIN
DRILLS FASTENED TOGETHER BY SPECIAL TRACTOR HITCHES]
With the development of an attachment to bind with twine, a new problem
arose--where to get a cheap serviceable twine. William Deering again
arose to the occasion. He met Edwin H. Fitler in Philadelphia, one of
the three twine makers in the United States, and after a good deal of
persuasion induced him to take an order for a single-strand binder
twine. From that time on, all manufacturers have been building
practically the same machine--the Appleby binding attachment on the
Marsh type of harvester which, in turn, was founded on the McCormick
cutting mechanism. The self-binder of today is of that type.
Other Machines Follow.
The completion of the reaper set the wheels of farm invention spinning.
It was the first great battle successfully won and gave a spirit of
confidence and an irresistible spirit of victory to the men who were
lifting the burdens off the bodies of men. After the reaper, the mowing
machine came naturally. Following the binder in easy sequences came the
corn binder, push binder, header and harvester thresher.
Every variety of haying machine, from side-delivery rake and tedder to
sweep rake and loader, came eventually to make hay-making easy. The
thresher, ensilage cutter, riding plow, disk harrow, cream separator,
manure spreader and seeding machines succeeded in making the raising of
the world’s food a profitable occupation; at the same time, they made it
an easy one. Lately, the internal combustion engine, together with its
application in the kerosene tractor, promises to make the farmer’s
emancipation practically complete. If Herbert Casson could say “The
United States owes more to the reaper than it does to the factory or the
railroad or the Wall Street stock exchange,” what can be said of these
myriad machines that now do the food-grower’s work for him?
Where formerly nearly all the people had to engage in food raising and
even then went to bed hungry, now nearly half the people live away from
the farm and there is a great abundance of bread and of food.
* * * * *
What Causes an Echo?
An echo is caused by the reflection of sound waves at some moderately
even surface, such as the wall of a building. The waves of sound on
meeting the surface are turned back in their course, according to the
same laws that hold for reflection of light. In order that the echo may
return to the place from which the sound proceeds, the reflection must
be direct, and not at an angle to the line of transmission, otherwise
the echo may be heard by others, but not by the transmitter of the
sound. This may be effected either by a reflecting surface at right
angles to the line of transmission or by several reflecting surfaces,
which end in bringing the sound back to the point of issue.
Sound travels about 1,125 feet in a second; consequently, an observer
standing at half that distance from the reflecting object would hear the
echo a second later than the sound. Such an echo would repeat as many
words and syllables as could be heard in a second. As the distance
decreases the echo repeats fewer syllables till it becomes monosyllabic.
The most practiced ear cannot distinguish in a second more than from
nine to twelve successive sounds, so that a distance of not less than
sixty feet is needed to enable a common ear to distinguish between the
echo and the original sounds. At a near distance the echo only clouds
the original sounds. This often interferes with the hearing in churches
and other large buildings. Woods, rocks and mountains produce natural
echoes in every variety, for which particular localities have become
famous.
In Greek mythology, Echo was a nymph (one of the Oreads) who fell in
love with Narcissus, and because he did not reciprocate her affection
she pined away until nothing was left but her voice.