THE NEW HARVESTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4123, 30 January 1875, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE NEW HARVESTER.

[FCOST THE MELBOURNE "LEADER."] (n* aceor lance with instructions to obtain full pajticulars regarding the American harvesting machine, about which a paragraph from a-correspondent appeared in onr last issue, I proceeded by train to Rochester, in the vicinity of which flourishing agricultural township the implement is to been seen at work. Mr. Spencer i 3 also a large farmer and threshing machine proprietor. It was on his farm, about two miles dowu the Campaspe, that I found the harvester at work. The farm containing 400 acres of crop, oats and wheat. The owner of the machine, Mr. Thomas Cavenagh, began work on Monday (the 7th. inst.) and on Friday evening (the 11th), the date of my visit, he had got through upwards of 200 acres, When he made his way up to Rochester, first (immediately upon arriving per mail from San Francisco) he had considerable difficulty iu obtaining a serious h janng from the first farmers he spoke to about his machine. One gentleman ridiculed the statements made as being Yankee bounce, and rode away with. derisive laughter. At last Mr. Spencer said if the machine would do what the owner said he would guarantee him 100 acres for a trial. Mr. Cavenagh replied that he would promise to average 35 acres per day all through, and wss willing to guarautee that he would do his work with less waste and fewer hands than any other machine in Victoria. It appears that we are indebted for Mr. Cavenagh's visit to Mr. Brown, who some four years ago was a large threshing machine owner in the Castlemaine district. This gentleman is now running several of his machines iu the San Jose Valley, near San Francisco, where amongst the immense wheat fields nothing else but fche Haines' Header is used for harvesting. Mr. Brown drew Mr. Cavenagh's attention to the fact that the header was the very tiling wiuited in Victoria or South Australia, and assured him that there was not any in the colonies. In describing Mr. Cavenagh's machine, a brief allusion by way of comparison may be made to the reapers used in Victoria. With them not only agriculturists but the general public are proity well conversant through the medium oi agricultural shows and advertisement wood-cuts, in the weekly papers. They are familiar vit.h what are known as the back delivery and side-deliverv implements. In both these the genera! principle is that the corn is cut by a knife working at right angles with the horses, whieli pull the machine by walking along on the near side of the standing corn. As the crop is cut it falls on a platform behind the knife, and is tipped off in unbound sheaves by a revolving reel, which along with this duty also fans the grain on to the knife. The only difference between the back and side delivery is that the l?tter, by an oblique action of the reel, tips the sheaves off to the side, thus permitting the horses to go round and round whether there are hands to bind or not. In the back delivery the sheaves have to be bound and :emo".l to the side before the horses cr.u come -01111(1 again. In i_:iotl\er class of roach)', en a m:ui with a lake takjs tlie place of the r ;el ; '".t in all c.ises the grain is tipped o' f on the ground, .tua ha-- ;o be bou''cl, then stooked, and afterwards carted in to the stack preparatory to threshing. These machines cut from ten to fifteen acres a day, with about ten hands, including the driver, and are generally drawn by two horses, which have to be changed from three to four times a day. In all this binding, stooking, and cavting there is a waste estimated at not less ! then a bushel per acre, but it is often more like two. Mr. Cavenagh's machine resembles the Victorian reapers so far as thao it cuts the grain with the same sort of knife, on to which the corn is wafted by a similar revolving reel. But this knife is about three times longer, taking a cut of fourteen feet ! six inches. There is a pole for the horses also, but instead of being at the side and ahead of the machine, extends from the , middle of the kuife straight behind, and the i horses (of which there are four) being yoked j to the end of the pole, two on each side, have the appearance of pushing the machine into the corn, as it goes along, the knife cutting and the reel revolving directly in ' front of them. The whole machine travels upon two four-feet cast-iron wheels, with nine-inch broad tires placed one at each end of the pole, and just behind the knife, and from these wheels motion is conveyed by tooth and pinion for working the machinery in the usual way. The end behind the horses I is supported by a smaller wheel, which acts I as a guide by means of a handle like the tiller ' of a boat. The driver stands astride of this | tiller on the pole behind the horses, and has in front of him a lever communicating withj the knife. By this lever he can instantly ele- , vate or depress the knife to cut high or low j according as the crop varies. The driver thus I drives the horses, works the guide wheel ! between his legs, and attends to the lever. : The grain, upon being cut, does not fall on a platform, but on to a three-feet broad • canvas apron, revolving rapidly at right angles with the right, and towards the near side. The apron, upon reaching the end of the knife, rises with a pretty steep incline ; to the height of ten feet, and as the corn ■ runs up this apron from the knife it tips into • a waggon, whieh travels along the side, being driven by a lad who accommodates the pace of his horses to suit the pace of the machine. There are three of these waggons, consisting of close deal boxes eighteen feet long by twelve feet broad, with sides sloping from one foot high at the side nearest the machine to 5 feet at the furthest off. These boxes were made by Mr. Cavenagh on the farm, and lifted on to his light waggon wheels, that he brought with him. After harvest in California these boxes are lifted off and the waggons are fitted : with other bodies suited for carting wheat ' and other farm work. In the waggon travelling with the machine there are, besides ; the driver, two men with forks receiving the corn as it comes up the elevator and spreading it about until the waggon is full. The ! machine then stops, the two loaders get out and get into the next empty waggon in waiting, which, when the full one drives off, ' takes its place, and the macliine starts and the same process is continued, No. 3 taking the place of -so. then No. 1, and so on. On Mr. Spencer's farm, at the time of my : visit, the corn was being carted direct to a i steam thresher iu the middle of the field, ! but iu California Mr. Cavenagh informs me the usual plan is to stack the com in con- ! venient situations, putting about one day's ' cutting iu one stack, and so arranging the | stacks one on each side so that a row is formed between which the thresher can be easily moved along as the threshing proceeds. The reason why heading and threshing is done at separate times in California is because occaional stoppages through accidents are unavoid- ' able inboth processes, and in these cases the stoppage of one process throws all the hands idle that are engaged at both. By doing the heading and stacking first, and then the threshing, this is avoided, and the total number of hands required not so large. And now to consider the advantages to be derived from the use of the Haines' Header. And here, by the way, it must bo noted that the machine is not called a header, - some suppose, because it can only nick the headn of the corn off. The name is given because the machine is pushed a head into the crop instead of being pulled along in the lopsided manner peculiar to those in common use. This harvester can cut with the utmost eaie and precision at any height, from -1 inches up to 3 feet. Iu considering the advantages of the'machine, the first note suggested is, what do we want with a reaper and blotter. Bindin" is only to put the corn in a state -it for getting it to the stack, and a machine for bindin" is to do the binding without labourers. But tilts header puts the corn direct from, the kuife into the waggon, and sends it otl to the stack or thrashing machine withou: biniing. Then, even with a reaper and biiulei, the sheaves would'be tumbled on to the ground, then stooked, and afterwards f.irke; l into waggons with all the breaking of !>amls and ■ other means by .which so uric'.i gr.un is

wasted. A marked advantage in the header Is that the 'grain never touches the gronnd ■frdmthe time it'is cut by the knife tul it re&ches the stack or thresher, and not a head iB wasted. Tho reaping done by Mr. Cavenagli's I have never seen excelled. Absolutely not a straw was_ left uncut, and instead of pushing the grain off a platform on to the ground, to be afterwards mauled about and shaken to death by an awkward binder previous to a second shaking in the forking process, everything goes up the apron and into the closc; box waggon, to be conveyed away at oncc to tlie stack. Confiiilering reaping and stacking by itself, without threshing, we find tlie hands and horses minimi to be—one man and four horses with the I.'\tUt, three waggons with two horses eaeli ar.d three drivers, two loniicrs in the fi'.-ld, ami two unloaders at the .stack. Nine men and ton horses in all. and tlie work done for oi:e day, forty acres reaped and stacke.l. Their wages at the present rate, 7s. per day, would be C.'i :is. ; and say for their board nine half-crowns (2'Js Cd.) makes a total of £4 5s Gd. for the forty acres. In C'lt the quantity of laud with the lire.-cnt implements w..\rii take at least three reapers. These would f:\ke two'liorses ami nine men each, or si.-; horses and tuent>scven men. Thin, for the rest ot the work j sav two >tooli<-rs, tin waggons with two , horses each, three drivers, two loaders and j two at the .-'tack, makes six horses and n:ne | ii:en, or a total of twelve hoiocs aiul thirty- • six liii'". These, at per day, makes t'l'2 ' l'2s. ; their fooil (thirty-six half-crowns) is j £4 li'-s., or a total of €17 2s Aild to this a j bushel of wheat to the acre waste (a very low estimate) at -Is., there is another .€!>, • or £'2~> -8. altogether, showing a balance in . favour of tile he;xler for one day's work of i .f'JO Cd. Then the horses used are ten i v.'itli the header and twelve nnd».r the old i process ; but, in fact, the balance in favor of ; the header N a great deal more. ' 'ave- | nagh's machinc goes the whole day with | theone team of four horses with the greatest I case, the animals not turning a hair, whereas, j with the usual machine, as is well-known, it is 1 hard Work for two horses, requiring at least | two cha'nges (oftener three or four), which | would adil six horses to the number, making the balance in favor of the header the diflerence between ten horses and eighteen. Again, stuff cut with thu header is easier and better threshed. Easier, because the straw can be cut as high as hand reaping (if required, and better, because the stuff not being in sluaf is spread more evenly over the drum of the thresher, and therefore does not turn out so much broken wheat ur shelled oats. This difference Mr. Spencer found to be just a half. Out of "200 bags of wheat he only had 10 bags of the broken kind, called "fowls' feed, while under the sheaf threshing he always had '20 hags. Another advantage is being able to get early to market, by reason of getting the crop otf yuiek. Mr. Spencer, under the old system (and he has his reapers lying by unused*, would only be beginning to cart it o ' V field after Christmas. This year 1 . i.l have all his crop in Melbourne and sold before Christinas. Mr. Spencer's agreement with -Mr. Cavenagli is Ss. tier acre, the fori.",er providing horse-, and tli_ latter paying fix of the men in collection with the header besides himself. This harvester not only does away with the necessity for a reaper and binder, but it supersedes the South Australian strippers. Its advantages over these are —Ist. Strippers cannot take otf straw, this can take it or leave it, or take little or much as may be wished. 2nd. Strippers can only work when the weather ia hot, this from early morning to late at night. 3rd. The stripper, under the most favorable circumstances, wastes a great deal, and in any case refuses altogether anything beyond 30 bushels per acre. The header's worl; in this respect is .such that Mr. Cavenagli is willing to take as remuneration from any South Australian farmer for reaping the value of the wheat saved per acre by the use of his machine. In the workman--.hip and material of this machine there are proritable lessons to be 1 .-ami. There is the mii.imum of pulleys anil cogs. Everything is light but strong. In the working of the reel the leaves throw the corn on to the knives with a beautiful oblique action, which sends it along the apron. The knife, which has a simple crank action directed by a hickory roil worked by eccentric has al2 inch stroke : and the lingers, which in our machines are large ami clumsy covering up the cutting Mir:ace of tin. l knife. ar»- hc>v short and I>ne. This exposure of cuttii g sj face, and the length of the stroke, togethc • '.til tho ; ->ecd. renders misses impos-sib'-.-. The machine is provided with a contrivance for lifting i.iid corn onto the knife, and er.:i be taken oft or applied atpleasurc: Thu ing.nious appliance can be attached t'- any reaper or mower. It is .'.imple and efic -t.re. and eal---d Bonney's patelit. The eha>ge oil our railways as compared with those i:e has been used to oi America has : illed Mr Cavenagli with astonishment. It eost him il.'J to take the machine up to Rochester. It is a little bulky but very light and to go the same distance in California, he states, would only cost him £G. Upon linisliing the season Mr. Cavenagli will sell the ma- hinc and return to .San Tranc'sco for more, to be here by next harvest. Tne price of '.'"is one including duty, is £100.