HENRY FIELD.




LESSON XXII

REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES

The rapid settlement and improvement of many parts of our country have
been greatly aided by the invention of various kinds of machinery. The
work of many hands can now be done by one machine, and thus a great
saving of human labor is effected.

In former times, the crops of wheat and oats, rye and barley, were
gathered with a sickle; the grain was thrashed with a flail; the grass
in the meadows was cut with a scythe. But, now, all this is changed;
on the great prairies of the West, the wheat, rye and oats are cut by
the reaper, and with a steady hum the thrashing-machine does its work
of cleaning the grain.

The scythe has given place to the mowing machine, and the sickle and
flail have been laid away as relics of other times. Thus the machinery
invented by the genius and skill of man, not only lightens the labor of
the farmer, but it performs the work which formerly required the united
effort of many men. Many foreign countries send to the United States
for mowers and reapers, because it is here these machines have reached
their highest perfection.