The Syracuse Journal, Volume 20, Number 16, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 16 August 1928 — Page 2

"A New PATENT GRAIN CUTTER Worked by Moise Power".. «■■■□□. F ■ ■ i OmFj jgg ju v . ; k / Ji ~5?C31»L w liMBrWk^WqWPB^WWM^^BBIWIwiy 7 iv fefctMF ww WrMBIWBBMBiB gpi|g» Chuk? jr.zfcco&iadß: «fc-— 'I 7X5* 720 TOF mmßimnprß from Yate Ifaiversty firsts "fiajeani of America - f ‘ --- I .

By ELMO SCOTT WATSON

HESE are the days when the song of the harvester Is heard in the land and every machine, whether it be a horse-drawn binder clattering around a little patch of oats on some rocky hillside farm in the East or a mighty motor-propelled “combine” roaring its way through the golden sea which stretches out to the horizon in the wheat fields of the West, is adding its voice in a paean of praise to the memory of an American farm boy, who, less

■ 4

than a hundred years ago, wrote the first chapter in the Romance of the Reaper. Cyrus Hall McCormick was his name; Steele’s Tavern, \ a., was the place, and July 23, 1631, was the date. “Whoever wishes to understand the making of the United States must read the life of Cyrus Hall McCormick,” writes his biographer, Herbert N. Casson. “No other man so truly represented the dawn of the industrial era—the grapple of the pioneer with the crudities of a new country, the replacing of muscle with machinery, and the establishment of better ways and better times in farm and city alike. ... The life of McCormick spanned the heroic period of our industrial advancement, when great things were done by great Individuals. To know McCormick is to know the type of man it was who created the United States of the Nineteenth century. ... He was not brilliant -He was not picturesque. He was no caterer "for Tinne or favor. But he was as necessary as bread. He fed hte country as truly as Washington created it and Lincoln preserved It He abolished our agricultural peasantry so effectively that we have had to Import muscle from foreign countries ever since. And he added an immense province to the new empire of mind over matter, the expansion of which has been and is now the highest and important of all human endeavors.” The same year that saw the birth of Lincoln, the savior of the nation, saw the. birth of McCormick, the bread-giver of the nation—lßo9. His father, Robert McCormick, was a well-to-do Virginia fanner, having some 1,800 acres of land in Rockbridge county, and the owner, too, of two grist-mills, two sawmills, a smelting furnace, a distillery and a blacksmith shop. The father was something of an inventive genius and in the little log cabin blacksmith shop he hammered and fashioned several new types of farm machinery—a hempstake, a clover puller, a bellows and a threshing machine. But more important was the fact that he was ambitions to invent a practical reaper which would do away with the laborious method of the time—the cradle. He had made one harvester, a queer contraption, consisting of a row of curved sickles fastened to upright posts, against which the grain was whirled by revolving rods, and pushed from behind by two horses. He tried it in the harvest of 1816, but It was a failure, for the grain bunched and tangled around the sickles, t Neither this failure, nor the good-natured derision of his neighbors disheartened him. He continued with his experiments in secret—behind the locked doors of his workshop, after working far into the night on it. Only his sons were allowed to see what he was doing, and one of them, ‘ Cyrus, who had inherited some of the inventive ability of his father, became as much Interested ip the problem as his parent By the summer of 1831 the elder McCormick had so improved his reaper that he believed success was in sight and he gave it a trial. But again it was a failure. It cut the grain fairly well, but it failed to solve the problem of handling it properly after it was cut, for this machine threw it out in a tangled heap. In that respect it was no better than other reapers which men had tried to make. For it should be mentioned in passing that the McCormicks were not the only ones who were trying to solve the problem of harvesting grain by machinery. In 1826 Rev. Patrick Bell of Carmyllio, Forfarshire, Scotland, a farmer’s son, brought out a device which operated a series of scissors fastened on a knife board, but never perfected it to any practical use. Other would-be inventors in both Europe and America invented reapers which, in Casson’s words, based upon the theory that “grain always grew straight and was perfectly •willing to be cut,” would cut “ideal grain in ideal fields ” But “to cut actual grain in actual fields,” especially when the grain was tangled and part of it lying on the ground, was another matter. It was to meet this problem that young Cyrus McCormick took up his father’s work when the elder McCormick became satisfied that his principle of operation could not succeed and abandoned further effort to perfect his reaper. “He faced the problem worst end first”—by seeking to perfect a machine that would cut grain that lay in a fallen and tangled mass. If he could accomplish that the harvesting of grain that stood up straight was assured. As he saw the problem, it involved certain fundamental factors, and these fundamental factors, seven in all, he incorporated in his machine. Crude as was their manifestation in his first clumsy machine, the fact remains that in all the' harvesters which have since been developed, these seven factors are still the basic factors. These factors are a straight knife with a back and forth cutting motion, a divider at the end of the blade to separate the grain that is to be cut from the grain that is left standing, a row

Might Have Appeared Just a Bit Personal

They were discussing the imperfection of man. The skeptical fellow held that human beings weren’t very won- ■ derful after all, and the parson didn’t agree with him. “But surely,” protested the scoffer, ••you must admit that man is a bungled job? Why, even you, in your work, must have noted many defects In the human organism, and have thought of better physical contrivances.”

?? i\ / HL. V / yfTYRUSIrWt, \ O f MCCORMICK Iffil MLaiNVEHTOK QR THeBSF; B “1 m. • •sZ& ™ga| .

war fhotos Courtesy of Jtfterrtab'ofta/ Go. of fingers at the end.,.of the blade to support the grain while it was being cut, the revolving reel to lift up and straighten the grain that has fallen, a platform to calch the cut grain as it fell, a side draught that will pull the machine forward instead of pushing it and finally building the whole reaper on one big power wheel which carries the weight and operates the reel and the cutting blade. Having worked out the problem by incorporating these basic principles in his machine, young McCormick hastened to complete his reaper in time for the harvest of 1831. For a time it appeared doubtful that he would be able to have it ready for use while there was still grain available upon which to try it. But at his request a small patch of wheat on his father’s farm was left standing and one day early in July, watched only by members of his family, the eifperiment was tried. As he drove his machine against the yellow grain, the reel revolved and swept the wheat down upon the knife, which clattered back and-forth and laid the cut grain in a shimmering goleen swath upon the platform from which Tt was raked off by John Cash, one of the elder McCormick’s “hired men.” The new machine “was as clumsy as a Red River ox-cart, but it reaped!” , Young McCormick immediately set to work to Improve, the faults in the reel and divider Which this first test revealed and a few days later there was posted on the rail fence surrounding a wheat field near Steele’s Tavern this sign: “In this field on July 23, 1831, will be tried a new patent grain cutter, worked by horse power, invented by C. H. McCormick." Accordingly on that date the first public test of the reaper was made. Details as to that test seem to be few except for the statements from two different sources that “Here with two horses he cut six acres of oats in an after- ~ noon. . . . Such a thing at that time was Incredible. It was equal to the work of six laborers with scythes, or 24 peasants with sickles,” and that “As his clumsy machine clattered about the field, the skepticism of the handful of farmers who had come to witness the attempt was changed to admiration.” More complete is the record and more dramatic as to incident is the story of his public exhibition near the town of Lexington, Va., 18 miles from the McCormick farm, the next year. That occasion is described by Casson as follows: Fully one hundred people were present—several political leaders of local fame, farmers, professors, laborers, and a group of negroes who frolicked and shouted in uncomprehending joy. At the start it, appeared as though this new contraption of a machine, which was unlike anything else that human eyes had ever seen, was to prove a grotesque failure. The field was hilly, and the reaper jolted and slewed so violently that John Ruff, the owner of the field, made a loud protest “Here! This won’t do,” he shouted. “Stop your horses. You are rattling the heads oft my wheat.” This was a hard blow to the young farmerinventor. Several laborers, who w.ere openly hostile to the machine as their rival in the labor market, began to jeer with great satisfaction. “It’s a humbug,” said one. “Give me the old cradle yet, boys,” said another. These men were hardened and bent and calloused with the drudgery of harvesting. They worked 12 and 14 hours a day for less than a nickel an hour. But they were as resentful toward a reaper as the drivers of stage coaches were to railroads, or as hackmen of today are towards automobiles. At othis moment of apparent defeat, a man of striking appearance, w£o had been watching the floundering of the reaper with great interest, came to the rescue. “I’ll give you a fair chance, young man," he said. “That field of wheat on th§, other side of the fence belongs to me. Pull down the fence and cross over.” This friend In need was the Honorable William Tyler, who was several years later a candidate for the governorship of Virginia. offer was at once accepted by Qyrus McCormick and as the second field was fairly level he laid low six acres of wheat before sundown. This was no more than he

The parson was serious, then smiled. ••Yes, I have,” he replied. “You see, when i want to shut out anything disagreeable from my sight I can always draw down my eyelids to cover my eyes; but unfortunately I haven’t any flaps to my ears.” March Became Long Hike Commander-In-Chief Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood has completed

a march of inspection that became a tramping trip along the northeastern frontier of Burma. After inspecting three battalions of military police at Myitkyma and Bhamo, he marched 250 miles from Bhamo to Lashion. Owing to heavy rains, 60 miles of mud were covered on foot in three days. In addition to this the swollen Shiveli river prevented his car from making the passage from Nam Khan to Muse and Birdwood and bis' staff walked 25 miles over the Loilun range, 6,300 feet high, down to the Hosi valley.

THE SYRACUSE JOURNAL

had done in 1831, but on this occasion he had conquered a larger and more incredulous audience. After the sixth acre was cut, the reaper was driven with great acclaim into the town of Lexington and placed on view in the courthouse square. Here it was carefully studied by a Professor Brad- | shaw of the Lexington Female academy, who i finally announced in a loud and emphatic voice. “This —machine —is worth—a hundred —thousand — dollars.” This praise from “a scholar and a gen- ■ tieman,” as McCormick afterwards called him, wa« I very encouraging. And still more so was the quiet word of praise from Robert McCormick, who said, “It makes me feel proud to have a son do what I could not do." ' I But even though he had demonstrated to the skeptical farmers and the hostile laborers, that he • had invented a practical reaper, the full measure of recognition which was to come to the young Virginia farmer-inventor was to be denied him for some time. For three years after that first public demonstration, with virtually no capital he worked in his father’s shop perfecting his invention. In the meantime Obed Hussey of Nantucket. Mass., had invented a reaper and in 1833 he secured a patent for it, thus depriving McCormick of the honor of securing the first official recognition for his invention, since the latter did not secure his patent until 1834. Even after McCormick had perfected his reaper and demonstrated its usefulness, he had difficulty in selling it, for the farmers were slow to give up the old-fashioned way of harvesting and to adopt this “new-fangled” ma- i chine. In the Lexington Union for September 28, 1833, he inserted the fii’St advertisement of his reaper giving four testimonials from farmers and offering the machines for SSO each. But no one bought The farmers who had given their testimonials had merely seen the reaper work and had neither the i money nor the inclination to buy themselves. In fact it was nine years before McCormick found a farmer who had both the money and the inclina- I tion to purchase one of the new machines. But ’ despite many discouragements, including the loss of his farm when he was caught in the depression which followed the panic of 1837, he persisted in his determination to market his machines. By keeping everlastingly at it, he sold seven reapers in 1842, twenty-nine in 1843 and forty in 1844. By that year he had also made converts to his idea and he began to sell agencies for the reaper in several counties in Virginia. Then orders for the machine began to come from other states. Eventually “McCormick left his quiet Virginia home and put his fortune to the hazard in the new West of the Ohio valley. He established a shop in Cincinnati where, in 1545. one hundred machines were built. But with the rare foresight of genius, he saw in the little city of Chicago, numbering scarcely more than 10,000 souls, the strategic center of the West, and in the level grain fields of the prairie plains the great market for his invention. In 1848 his new factory on the shores of Lake Michigan turned out five hundred machines. Yet this was but the beginning of his triumphs." The history of his final triumph is written In the history of agriculture since that time, one of the most amazing developments in the story of mankind. The story of that development with its statistics of the number of acres of land under cultivation, the number of men employed, the number of bushels of grain harvested each year—statistics which deal with numbers difficult for the human mind to grasp and realize their significance —is too big a story to be included in this article. It has to do only with the history-making event 97 years ago when Cyrus McCormick demonstrated his “new patent grain cutter” which was to revolutionize agriculture and affect not only the history of the United States, but of the world as well, as have few other inventions. Early this year, a simple marker (shown above) was erected near the spot where he did this and the news story of the ceremony there recalled for a moment to a busy world the name of the man who Invented the first practical reaper. But every year millions and millions of new memorials are erected to him in the grain fields of the world. They are the shocks of wheat and oats and barley and rye which dot the landscape during the harvest season and the swelling chorus of praise for his name which accompanies the erection of these myriiid monuments is the hum of the reaper as it clicks its way through the fields of golden grain.

She Had Last Laugh Addressing the Women’s Conservative club in London recently, Mrs. Stanley Baldwin, wife of Prime Minister Baldwin, warned her hearers that she would expose one of the secrets of her married life. She asserted that some of the bitterest differences that she and her husband ever had were over women’s suffrage. “But it’s all over now,” she declared, “for my side won.” 1 Dun —the future tense of due.

GRAFTED GRAPES PROVE SUPERIOR Greatly improved quality and increased yields of fruit are the chief advantages to be gained by grafting desirable varieties of grapes on hardy root stocks', says F. E. Gladwin, grape specialist of the Geneva (N. X.) experiment station, who- has been conducting experiments with grafted grapes for the past several years. Such well-known varieties of American grapes as Delaware, Campbell, Niagara, Concord, lonia, Catawba, etc., have certain defects which detract from their value as commercial possibilities, says Mr. Gladwin. Some of them set more fruit than they can mature; some are erratic in their bearing habits and are oversensitive to soil conditions; while some have the “offyear” habit to a marked extent or tend to “run-out” or deteriorate in yield and quality. Although grafting is not a cure-all, many of these defects have been overcome by grafting these varieties on hardy root stocks, says this authority. Clinton, Riparia Glorie, and Rupestris St. George were used as root stocks in the station experiments, and several standard varieties were benchgrafted on fhem by the ship-and-tongue method. Records have now been obtained for a sufficiently long time to show that American grapes can be materially improved in quality, that yields can I e increased, and that more vigorous vines can be obtained by bench-grafting desirable varieties on suitable root stocks. The cost of grafting is still a serF ous handicap to the method coming into practical use until more economical processes can be perfected, it is said. Indications are, however, that cheaper methods will soon follow and In the meantime grape owners are urged to give the method a trial on a small scale. Certainly, in small vineyards for home use grafted vines are to be prefered to those propagated by cuttings. | _ Rye and Vetch Combined Favored as Cover Crop Replying to the query as to what : combination of rye and vetch would I be good for a cover crop, the Ameri- ! can Fruit Grower Magazine makes the following reply: A combination of a oushel of rye to ; 20 pounds of vetch will make an excellent cover crop. The rye and vetch should be sown as soon as the hot weather of summer is past. This will usually be about August 15. At about that time the dry weather, if any, is usually broken by a rain, and cooler weather begins to come, particularly at night. It is advisable to get the vetch sown fairly early, for the plants are rather slow to become well established. However, the seed should not be sown while the ground is still dry • and the weather hot. Be sure to use winter vetch. I If you use good seed, sow it at the i right time, and are lucky enough to have good weather, you will easily get a good stand and obtain a good | cover crop. The best distribution of seed is usually obtained with a seed drill. This method also gets all the . i seed into the ground and prevents the . wastage thdt always follows broadcasting. Summer Grape Priming The chief reason advanced by the : advocates of summer grape pruning is , that the fruit is thereby exposed to I a greater degree to the sun, and hence . better coring results. A second rea- ; son usually given is that the continued elongation of shoot with the increased number of leaves is a drain ; on the vine, and in consequence the i vine is weakened. As a matter of fact the larger part of the coloring matter of the fruit is manufactured in the leaf, and is later transferred to the berries. Hence any marked reduction in leaf area influences fruit color. | Notes of the Orchard | An apple orchard makes an ideal range , for growing chickens. • * * One kind of sweet cherry planted alone seldom bears much fruit — sometimes none. The blossoms need to be fertilized by those of another sort • • • . A strawberry patch can be continued more than two years if it is kept clean, well cultivated and fertilized, and if the old plants are removed each year in favor of the strong young plants. • • • The cheapest medicines are expensive when used as substitutes for fresh fruits and vegetables. I The finest currants are produced at 1 the base of one-year-old shoots and [ on one-year-old spurs arising from two-year-old wood and on spurs on three-year-old wood. • • • Unless the proper care Is given to the new'y growing grafts, as well as to the stock, the topworking may prove to be a 4 dismal failure as far ias developing a new top is concerned, i• ♦ * Rainfall between time of final spray and harvest determines somewhat the amount of residue left on the apples. In regions where rainfall does not wash the residue away, the growlers are dipping the fruit in a weak ! solution of hydrochloric acid. • * • ! Peaches make better fillets between I a; pie trees, as they come into bearing 1 qulekly, and are be removed when the apples get going. Quinces, : cherries and plums are so long lived that one ha to cut them out when i necessary to make room for the apples. .. .....

1 # 8 8 I I WBI Forget last year’s jelly failures This year you have PEXEL always this * never this PEXEL jells all fruits* Requires less boiling. Obtains more jelly. Does not change the most delicate flavor or color of any fruit

EVEN if you’ve had a dozen, failures—or if you never made jelly before — you can make jellies successfully with PexeL Just add it to fruit juice and bring to full boil- Then add sugar. Bring to vigorous boil once more- Take kettle from range. Skim. Pour into glasses. That’s all— it will be jelled as soon as it is cool. When you use Pexel, its price —3oc—is repaid from one to three times. Time and fuel are saved. You make more jelly because fruit juice, sugar and flavor are not wasted by prolonged boiling. Pexel is a 100% pure-fruit produc* It is absolutely colorless,

r &

And It Seemed Such a Promising Scandal! A conversation between two women, one of whom was hard of hearing, interested the passengers of a crowded car. “I saw her on the street downtown I with a man.” “Is that so?" “Yes, and it was after ten o’clock, too.” “The very idea.” “I never suspected her of flirting before.” “No, nor me, either.” “But you can never tell.” “Ain’t it the truth?” “It is that." “Do you know her husband?” “No, I ain’t never seen him close.” “Well, he is a big fat man.” “Does he wear a brown suit?” “Yes.” “Smoke a pipe?” “Uh, huh!” There was deepest disappointment in the woman’s voice as she exclaimed : “Fiddlesticks! Then it was only her husband after all.”—Chicago Post. i Red Cross Ball Blue is the finest product of its kind in the world. Ev- ' ery woman who has used it knows this statement to be true. —Adv. Tiger Face on Auto With eyes that flash green lights and with teeth of steel, the replica of j a tiger’s head has been mounted on the radiator front of an automobile I made in Germany for hunting in India. The feature is expected to aid in run-, ning the car through the jungle as well as being an attractive ornament. Love Is the beginning, the middle and the end of everything.—Lacordaire. Our deeds determine us as muclLjvt we determine our deeds. — ’ Eliot. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions. —Shakespeare. Men freely believe what they wish.

Shampoo Yourself . With Cuticura Soap ’WSHTA Anoint the scalp, especially \ A spots of dandruff and itching, if n / (J any, with Cuticura Ointment. /\ I r Then shampoo with a suds of / X. J / Cuticura Soap and warm water. /\z / Rinse thoroughly. A healthy // J scalp usually means good hair. ■—- / Soup 25c. Ointment 25 and 60c. Talcum 26c. Sold everywhere. Sample each free. Addreaa: Cutteura I Lahoratoriee, Dept M. Malden, Mam." — SQT* Cuticura Shaving Stick 25c.

tasteless, odorless. It is a powder, not a liquid. Keeps indefinitely. Just as effective in any season with honied juices or unsweetened canned fruits. Get Pexel at your grocer’s. Only 30c. Recipe booklet with easy-to-follow directions in every package. The Pexel Company, Chicago, 111. ’’’•F Here are a few examples of how much jelly Pexel makes: 454 cups strawberry juice, Pexel, 8 cups sugar make II glasses of jelly. 454 cups raspberry juice, Pexel, 8 cups sugar make 11 glasses of jelly. 6 cups currant juice, Pexel, 10 cups sugar make 14 glasses of jelly. 454 cups grape juice, Pexel, 7 cups sugar make 10 glasses of jelly.

How He Knew The family was discussing various downtown eating places and t-heii merits, when young Billy, The New* carrier son, spoke up and said: “Oh, gee, dad, there’s a swell place in Sixteenth street, that’s every bit as good as any downtown.’’ Dad asked since when had he been sampling other cooking than his mother’s and he answered “Oh, I haven’t eaten there. I’ve Just smelt It.” —Indianapolis News. Oxen Got Homesick City life proved too much for a yoke of oxen brought to Franklin, N. H., to take part in the centennial celebration. They yearnjxTXor their, usual life on the farm fn Sanbornton, from which they never before departed, so much that a veterinarian who was called in after the oxen took sick ordered them back to the farm. Tinted Coal Coming Pink-tinted coal may be the latest fashion in anthracite if experiments now being made by a Pottsville (Pa.) producing company are successful. The object of the colored anthracite would be to give it a distinctive advertising feature and distinguish it from other coal. The paintlike substance is put on the coal with a sprayer, and it is said not to interfere with the burning qualities. Vancouver, less than 40 years old, has a population of more than 275,000, and 150 steamship lines have agencies in the city.

Kill I DIXIE I FEVER AND PAIN [TABLETS Relieve Pain