Reaper
Encyclopedia
A reaper is a person or machine that reaps (cuts and gathers) crops
at harvest
, when they are ripe.
, cutting them with a scythe
, or with a later type of scythe called a cradle
. Reaping is usually distinguished from mowing
, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for cutting grass for hay, rather than reaping crops.
The reaped grain stalks are gathered into sheaves (bunches), tied with string or with a twist of straw
or string. Several sheaves (singular sheaf) are then leant against each other with the ears off the ground to dry out, forming a stook. After drying, the sheaves are gathered from the field and stacked, being placed with the ears inwards, then covered with thatch or a tarpaulin
; this is called a stack or rick. In the British Isles
a rick of sheaves is traditionally called a corn rick, to distinguish it from a hay rick ("corn" in British English
means "grain
", not "maize
", which is not grown for grain there). Ricks are made in an area inaccessible to livestock, called a rick-yard or stack-yard. The corn-rick is later broken down and the sheaves threshed
to separate the grain from the straw.
Collecting spilt grain from the field after reaping is called gleaning
, and is traditionally done either by hand, or by penning animals such as chicken
s or pig
s onto the field.
Hand reaping is now rarely done in industrialized countries, but is still the normal method where machines are unavailable or where access for them is limited (such as on narrow terraces).
The more or less skeletal figure of a reaper with a scythe – known as the "Grim Reaper" – is a common personification of death
in many Western traditions and cultures. In this metaphor, death harvests the living, like a farmer harvests the crops.
.
or the Celts before them, invented a simple mechanical reaper that cut the ears
without the straw
and was pushed by oxen (Pliny the Elder
Naturalis Historia
XVIII,296). This device was forgotten in the Dark Ages, during which period reapers reverted to using scythe
s and sickles to gather crops.
Thomas Dobbs (actor) of Birmingham
invents a reaping machine in 1814, which consists of a circular saw or sickle, the grain is drawn or fed up to the saw by means of a pair of rollers.
Patrick Bell
of Scotland created a reaper that used a revolving reel, cutting knife and canvas conveyor in 1828. This machine was used around his county and some may have been exported, but the device was never patented. One of Bell's reaping machines is preserved in the National Museum of Rural Life
in Scotland.
Obed Hussey
in Ohio patented a reaper in 1833, the Hussey Reaper.
Made in Baltimore, Maryland, Hussey’s design was a major improvement in reaping efficiency. The new reaper only required two horse
s working in a non-strenuous manner, a man to work the machine, and another person to drive. In addition, the Hussey Reaper left an even and clean surface after its use.
The McCormick Reaper was designed by Robert McCormick
in Walnut Grove
, Virginia
. However, Robert became frustrated when he was unable to perfect his new device. His son Cyrus asked for permission to try and complete his father’s project. With permission granted, the McCormick Reaper was patented by his son Cyrus McCormick
in 1834 as a horse-drawn farm implement to cut small grain
crops. This McCormick reaper machine had several special elements:
Cyrus McCormick claimed that his reaper was actually invented in 1831, giving him the true claim to the general design of the machine. Over the next few decades the Hussey and McCormick reapers would compete with each other in the marketplace, despite being quite similar.
In 1861, the United States Patent and Trademark Office
issued a ruling on the invention of the polarizing reaper design. It was determined that the money made from reapers was in large part due to Obed Hussey. S.T. Shugert, the acting commissioner of patents, declared that Hussey’s improvements were the foundation of their success. It was ruled that the heirs of Obed Hussey would be monetarily compensated for his hard work and innovation by those who had made money off of the reaper. It was also ruled that McCormick’s reaper patent would be renewed for another 7 years.
Although the McCormick reaper was a revolutionary innovation for the harvesting of crops, it did not experience mainstream success and acceptance until at least 20 years after it was patented by Cyrus McCormick. This was because the McCormick reaper lacked a quality unique to Obed Hussey’s reaper. Hussey’s reaper used a sawlike cutter bar that cut stalks far more effectively than McCormick’s. Only once Cyrus McCormick was able to acquire the rights to Hussey’s cutter-bar mechanism (around 1850) did a truly revolutionary machine emerge. Other factors in the gradual uptake of mechanized reaping included natural cultural conservatism among farmers (proven tradition versus new and unknown machinery); the poor state in which many new farm fields were in, including rocks, stumps, and uneven soil, which made the lifespan and operability of a reaping machine questionable; and some amount of fearful Luddism
among farmers that the machine would take away jobs, most especially among hired manual labour
ers.
1902) in Springfield, Ohio
in the second half of the 19th century, were highly successful in the 1880s in the United States. Springfield is still known as "The Champion City".
Generally, reapers developed into the 1872 invented reaper-binder, which reaped the crop and bound it into sheaves. By 1896, 400,000 reaper-binders were estimated to be harvesting grain. This was in turn replaced by the swather
and eventually the combine harvester
, which reaps and threshes in one operation.
In Central Europe
an agriculture reapers were – together with reaper-binders – common machines until the mid-20th century.
Crop (agriculture)
A crop is a non-animal species or variety that is grown to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, fuel or for any other economic purpose. Major world crops include maize , wheat, rice, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton. While the term "crop" most commonly refers to plants, it can also include...
at harvest
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...
, when they are ripe.
Hand reaping
Hand reaping is done by various means, including plucking the ears of grains directly by hand, cutting the grain stalks with a sickleSickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...
, cutting them with a scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
, or with a later type of scythe called a cradle
Cradle (grain)
A cradle is an agricultural tool, a form of the scythe, used to reap grain. It is a scythe with an arrangement of fingers attached to the snath, snathe or snaith , such that the cut grain falls upon the fingers and can be cleanly laid down in a row for collection.-History:As agriculture A cradle...
. Reaping is usually distinguished from mowing
Mower
A mower is a machine for cutting grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g...
, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for cutting grass for hay, rather than reaping crops.
The reaped grain stalks are gathered into sheaves (bunches), tied with string or with a twist of straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
or string. Several sheaves (singular sheaf) are then leant against each other with the ears off the ground to dry out, forming a stook. After drying, the sheaves are gathered from the field and stacked, being placed with the ears inwards, then covered with thatch or a tarpaulin
Tarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
; this is called a stack or rick. In the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
a rick of sheaves is traditionally called a corn rick, to distinguish it from a hay rick ("corn" in British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
means "grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
", not "maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
", which is not grown for grain there). Ricks are made in an area inaccessible to livestock, called a rick-yard or stack-yard. The corn-rick is later broken down and the sheaves threshed
Threshing
Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain...
to separate the grain from the straw.
Collecting spilt grain from the field after reaping is called gleaning
Gleaning
Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest...
, and is traditionally done either by hand, or by penning animals such as chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
s or pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
s onto the field.
Hand reaping is now rarely done in industrialized countries, but is still the normal method where machines are unavailable or where access for them is limited (such as on narrow terraces).
The more or less skeletal figure of a reaper with a scythe – known as the "Grim Reaper" – is a common personification of death
Death (personification)
The concept of death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, Death is often given the name Grim Reaper and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood...
in many Western traditions and cultures. In this metaphor, death harvests the living, like a farmer harvests the crops.
Mechanical reaping
A mechanical reaper or reaping machine is a mechanical, semi-automated device that harvests crops. Mechanical reapers are an important part of mechanized agriculture and a main feature of agricultural productivityAgricultural productivity
Agricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to agricultural inputs. While individual products are usually measured by weight, their varying densities make measuring overall agricultural output difficult...
.
Early history
It is believed that either RomansAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
or the Celts before them, invented a simple mechanical reaper that cut the ears
Ear (botany)
An ear is the grain-bearing tip part of the stem of a cereal plant, such as wheat or maize. It can also refer to "a prominent lobe in some leaves".The ear is a spike, consisting of a central stem on which grows tightly packed rows of flowers...
without the straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
and was pushed by oxen (Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
Naturalis Historia
Naturalis Historia
The Natural History is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77–79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny...
XVIII,296). This device was forgotten in the Dark Ages, during which period reapers reverted to using scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
s and sickles to gather crops.
Thomas Dobbs (actor) of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
invents a reaping machine in 1814, which consists of a circular saw or sickle, the grain is drawn or fed up to the saw by means of a pair of rollers.
Patrick Bell
Patrick Bell
Rev Patrick Bell was a Church of Scotland minister and inventor.-Biography:Born in the rural parish of Auchterhouse in Angus, Scotland, into a farming family, Bell chose to study divinity at the University of St Andrews...
of Scotland created a reaper that used a revolving reel, cutting knife and canvas conveyor in 1828. This machine was used around his county and some may have been exported, but the device was never patented. One of Bell's reaping machines is preserved in the National Museum of Rural Life
National Museum of Rural Life
National Museums Scotland and partners have developed the National Museum of Rural Life, previously known as the Museum of Scottish Country Life, which is based at Wester Kittochside farm, lying between the town of East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire and the village of Carmunnock in Glasgow.- The...
in Scotland.
Mechanical reapers in the US
The 19th century saw several inventors in the United States claim innovation in mechanical reapers.The various designs competed with each other, and were the subject of several lawsuits.Obed Hussey
Obed Hussey was an American inventor, born to Quaker parents, of a farm machine called a reaper. In his youth, he was a sailor on a whaling ship, but eventually he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. He tested and patented a reaper in 1833, which placed him in fierce competition with Irish American...
in Ohio patented a reaper in 1833, the Hussey Reaper.
Made in Baltimore, Maryland, Hussey’s design was a major improvement in reaping efficiency. The new reaper only required two horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s working in a non-strenuous manner, a man to work the machine, and another person to drive. In addition, the Hussey Reaper left an even and clean surface after its use.
The McCormick Reaper was designed by Robert McCormick
Robert Hall McCormick
Robert McCormick was an American inventor, who invented numerous devices including a version of the reaper which his eldest son Cyrus McCormick patented in 1834...
in Walnut Grove
Cyrus McCormick Farm
The Cyrus McCormick Farm and Workshop is on the family farm of inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick known as Walnut Grove. Cyrus Hall McCormick improved and patented the mechanical reaper, which eventually led to the creation of the combine harvester...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. However, Robert became frustrated when he was unable to perfect his new device. His son Cyrus asked for permission to try and complete his father’s project. With permission granted, the McCormick Reaper was patented by his son Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.He and many members of the McCormick family became prominent Chicagoans....
in 1834 as a horse-drawn farm implement to cut small grain
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
crops. This McCormick reaper machine had several special elements:
- a main wheel frame
- projected to the side a platform containing a cutter bar having fingers through which reciprocated a knife driven by a crank
- upon the outer end of the platform was a divider projecting ahead of the platform to separate the grain to be cut from that to be left standing
- a reel was positioned above the platform to hold the grain against the reciprocating knife to throw it back upon the platform
- the machine was drawn by a team walking at the side of the grain.
Cyrus McCormick claimed that his reaper was actually invented in 1831, giving him the true claim to the general design of the machine. Over the next few decades the Hussey and McCormick reapers would compete with each other in the marketplace, despite being quite similar.
In 1861, the United States Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
issued a ruling on the invention of the polarizing reaper design. It was determined that the money made from reapers was in large part due to Obed Hussey. S.T. Shugert, the acting commissioner of patents, declared that Hussey’s improvements were the foundation of their success. It was ruled that the heirs of Obed Hussey would be monetarily compensated for his hard work and innovation by those who had made money off of the reaper. It was also ruled that McCormick’s reaper patent would be renewed for another 7 years.
Although the McCormick reaper was a revolutionary innovation for the harvesting of crops, it did not experience mainstream success and acceptance until at least 20 years after it was patented by Cyrus McCormick. This was because the McCormick reaper lacked a quality unique to Obed Hussey’s reaper. Hussey’s reaper used a sawlike cutter bar that cut stalks far more effectively than McCormick’s. Only once Cyrus McCormick was able to acquire the rights to Hussey’s cutter-bar mechanism (around 1850) did a truly revolutionary machine emerge. Other factors in the gradual uptake of mechanized reaping included natural cultural conservatism among farmers (proven tradition versus new and unknown machinery); the poor state in which many new farm fields were in, including rocks, stumps, and uneven soil, which made the lifespan and operability of a reaping machine questionable; and some amount of fearful Luddism
Luddite fallacy
The Luddite fallacy is an opinion in development economics related to the belief that labour-saving technologies increase unemployment by reducing demand for labour. The concept is named after the Luddites of early nineteenth century England.The original Luddites were hosiery and lace workers in...
among farmers that the machine would take away jobs, most especially among hired manual labour
Manual labour
Manual labour , manual or manual work is physical work done by people, most especially in contrast to that done by machines, and also to that done by working animals...
ers.
Reapers in the late 19th and 20th century
After the first reapers were developed and patented, other slightly different reapers were distributed by several manufacturers throughout the world. The Champion (Combined) Reapers and Mowers, produced by the Champion Interest group (Champion Machine Company, later Warder, Bushnell & Glessner, absorbed in IHCInternational Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
1902) in Springfield, Ohio
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...
in the second half of the 19th century, were highly successful in the 1880s in the United States. Springfield is still known as "The Champion City".
Generally, reapers developed into the 1872 invented reaper-binder, which reaped the crop and bound it into sheaves. By 1896, 400,000 reaper-binders were estimated to be harvesting grain. This was in turn replaced by the swather
Swather
A swather, or windrower, is a farm implement that cuts hay or small grain crops and forms them into a windrow. "Swather" is predominantly the North American term for these machines...
and eventually the combine harvester
Combine harvester
The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...
, which reaps and threshes in one operation.
In Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
an agriculture reapers were – together with reaper-binders – common machines until the mid-20th century.
External links
- History of Gallic Reaper (Petr Chuksin, January 23, 2006)