The cradle was the first instrument used for cutting grain. This was a
framework fastened to the scythe. The grain was delivered in a row back of the
cradle. One man did the binding while another was behind the cradle with a
long-handled fork to gather it into bunches. In an early day one man could cut
from two to four acres a day. One man, sometimes an Indian, would do the binding
with a draw band taken from the bundle. The men that did the cradling would stop
quite often and sharpen the blade with a whetstone. It was music to hear the
stone sharpen the scythe.
The next improvement was a crude machine that
dropped the grain on a platform. This reaper had a cutter bar and a reel. The
grain had to be raked off by an extra man with an old-fashioned woodtine fork.
The next machine was known as a dropper, which was hinged to the sickle bar and
made of slats. When enough grain fell for a bundle on this platform, it was
slightly tipped upward, which was controlled by a foot lever. With this machine
the grain had to be bound as fast as it was cut. It took at least ten to do the
binding.
The next invention was the self-rake and the Marsh harvester.
The self -rake had a cutter bar and a platform to the back. The grain fell on
this platform and was raked off by four rake arms. The principle was that each
time a certain amount of grain fell on this platform one of these raker arms
would shove it off in a bundle, and of course, had to be picked up and bound by
hand.
The Marsh harvester came about the same time as the self-rake did.
It had a platform on which two men stood and did the binding and threw the
bundles off.
The next great improvement was the self-binder, which two
to four horses could null. This binder used wire to tie the bundles with. This
machine did good work so far as the binding was concerned, but the wire was
dangerous in the straw when it was used as feed. But twine was soon introduced
and is still used to tie the bundles. This great binder attracted a great number
of people who were interested in seeing the first machine that would make and
tie a bundle of grain. There was no bundle carrier on this machine. The first
binder cut and bound several hundred acres the first year.
About forty
years ago they started using, or rather invented, the bundle carrier. This
enables the operator of the machine to carry the bundles and drop them into what
is known as shock rows. This was really the last improvement of the present day
reapers. After the bundle carrier was made, a shocker was invented but did not
prove a success.
The first binders were four and six feet width of cut.
They have gradually been made larger, in sizes seven and eight feet. About five
years ago the first ten-foot power binder was made. This binder could only be
run by tractors. The advantage of this power-driven harvester is because it does
not depend on the bullwheel to supply the power. Under some conditions,
especially in a wet season, the bullwheel, or the wheel that does the driving of
the binder, will sometimes slip, hence the binder will not work.
And now
for the last. A machine is in use today which cuts and threshes the grain in the
field. The grain is elevated into a tank on top of the combine until a truck or
wagon comes to haul the grain away.
We may see the time when the loaves
of bread will be made in the field.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 54.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
