shown in the plate. The one roller (y) turn the other (z) by the pitch-chains (a a), the chief use of which is to keep the sheet of canvass from changing its place by the revolution of the rollers. The canvass, from its gravity, would slip down upon the rollers as the machine moved forward; and it would twist upon them, by the unequal pressure to which it is exposed, by the cut corn pressing unequally upon it. To prevent these derangements, there are loops fixed to the canvass, which are made fast to the links of the chain, about 6 in. apart; and there being an equal number of links in both the upper and lower chains, and an equal number of teeth in the four pulleys upon which they work, the canvass revolves uniformly, without being in the least deranged by the many casualties to which it is exposed. b is the pole to which the horses are yoked: it is made of wood, and is firmly fixed to the cross rails upon the top of the frame: its length is 10 ft. from its extremity to the frame of the machine. ce are the swingletrees by which the horses are yoked: they are yoked similarly to horses in a carriage, so as both to draw forward, or push backward, at pleasure. Their heads, of course, are towards the machine; and, in appearance, they push the machine before them, but, in reality, they are drawing the same as in the plough. d is a small rod of wood, or helm, which the driver holds in his right hand, by the pulling of which to him, or pushing it from him, he conducts the machine straight forward. The dotted lines in the plate are a continuation of the pole with the swingletrees and helm attached. The machine is turned, at the end of the ridge, by the following contrivance:- The two wheels e e, in the body of the machine, are joined to the lever ƒ ƒ by an upright movable axle. The wheels are similar to the two (cc) on the front of the frame: they have a strong iron axle, which is made so long as to let the wheels conveniently turn, between the crank-rod K and the frame of the machine. In order that this piece of the apparatus may be used with advantage, the beveled wheel I is not placed upon the middle of the main axle D, but about 1 ft. from the end of it, as is seen in the drawing. This throws the crank-rod K nearer the side of the machine, thus leaving plenty of space for the turning apparatus. In the middle of the horizontal axle of the wheels e e there is an upright standard of iron, sufficiently strong, and fimly joined to the horizontal axle. This upright standard or axle passes through the middle of the lever ff (which is of wood, and, at this part, about 5 in. square), about 20 in. from the end of it. Upon the top of the upright standard there is placed a segment of a wheel i, with the teeth on the lower side, which is worked by a small pinion of 6 teeth upon the end of the rod gg. This pinion is not seen in the drawing, as it is completely concealed by the segment i. The rod gg, and the small pinion upon it, are turned round by the handle h; the pinion moves the segment i, which, being firmly fixed to the upright standard, turns the small wheels e e either way. When the machine is cutting, the wheels e e are put parallel to the cutters, and in this position they assist the machine in passing a furrow, without allowing the cutters to come in contact with the opposite side of it. But, when the machine is to be turned round, they are turned with an angle to the path of the machine by the handle h; and the rod g g being fixed in that position by a screw near the handle, the lever is then pressed down, and fixed with a catch to the frame of the machine. In pressing down the lever ff, the small wheels e e, which before were about 2 in. from the ground, are pressed to the earth, about 2 or 3 in. below the natural level of the machine. Of course, the two front wheels c c are lifted 2 or 3 in. from the ground, and the cutters considerably more, thus insuring them from accident while turning round. The machine now rests upon the two large wheels BB, and the two small ones e e of the lever; and the two front wheels cc go for nothing, as they do not touch the ground. But the axle of the small wheels e e being placed with an angle to the main axle D of the large wheels BB, the machine will naturally turn round upon the horses two axles, the less space will the machine require to turn upon. In turning the machine, however, attention must always be given to disengage the large wheels B B from the main axle D: this is done by shifting the coupling boxes E E by means of the handles H H. The apparatus 11, or collector, is placed exactly above the cutters: it is 23 ft. in diameter, made of wood as slight as may be. The supports kk, in the original machine, were made of iron; but now the two side-beams of the machine are made of a piece of wood, with a natural cast upon it, similar to the beam of a plough, but rising with a much greater angle, as near the form of the iron supports in the plate as possible, and continued horizontally till their points are exactly above the movable bar o o. The points pp are made of iron, bent as in the plate, to allow the collector // to turn round. At q999 are strong iron screws, working in nuts placed in the wooden part of the supports, which serve the double purpose of uniting the iron part to the wood, and allowing it to be drawn forward, or pushed backward, as occasion may be, by either shifting to another hole, or, which is better, by long slips in the middle of the bar. Long corn requires the collector to be placed forward, and short corn requires it to be taken back. At o o are two perpendicular rods, which slip in holes in the points of the supports; by the moving of which, upwards or downwards, the collector 1, which turns in sockets in the lower ends of these rods, is lowered or heightened, according to the length of the corn to be cut. The rods are fixed in their places by screws in the end of the supports. The collector is turned by a cross belt, or chain, passing over the two pulleys m n. A piece of slight canvass is put round the rollers y z, fixed to the chains a a, as before described. The lower ends of the rollers have a shield of plate iron round their gudgeons, to prevent the cut corn from warping, which it does effectually. The bushes of the roller z are made to shift by screws, to tighten the chains a little, to prevent them from slipping the pulleys, as they lengthen a little by using, especially when new. Fig. 56. is a representation of the machine in full operation. About six or eight yards of the field require to be cut at the ends to allow the machine to turn without injuring the corn, which may be done by the machine itself. If the corn is standing nearly upright, a convenient number of ridges may be taken in and cut by going round them; but if the corn is standing, and the field free from deep furrows, it may be cut by going round and round it till it is finished in the middle. One man, as seen in the plate, is sufficient to manage the whole operation. The cutting, collecting, and laying are the three principal parts of this machine, which have been all more or less explained in the general description given above. But as they are particular, a few words on each of these heads may still be necessary, that the machine may be completely understood in all its bearings. First, then, with regard to the cutting: it is desirable that the machine should do its work, and nothing more. If the motion of the cutters were too slow, it would not clear the ground; and if it were too quick, there would be a useless expenditure of power and machinery. Let it be remembered that the large outer wheels B B are 3 ft. diameter; that the beveled wheel 1 has 60 teeth, and that the crank-rod pinion has 10 ; and that the cutters have 12 in. of a cutting edge. The diameter of the wheels B B being 33 ft. or 42 in., their circumferences are 131.94678 in.; every revolution of them will pass over nearly 132 in. of the ground's surface; but there being 10 teeth in the crank-rod pinion, and 60 in the beveled wheel 1, every revolution of the wheels B B will turn the crank-pinion 6 times, and, of course, the crank as often. But every turn of the crank-pinion gives two cuts, and each stroke of the cutters clears 12 in. of the ground, because they have 12 in. of a cutting edge: therefore, one revolution of the wheels B B gives 12 strokes of the cutters, and clears 12 times 12 or 144 in. of the surface of the ground. But one revolution of B B passes only over 132 in. of surface; therefore, the cutters are calculated to cut, in one revolution of B B, 12 in. more than enough, that is, I in. each stroke. This, however, is per haps nothing more than is advisable to calculate upon, making allowances for the operation of the machinery, the partial dragging of the wheels, &c. &c. Secondly, the collector / must not move too slowly, lest it should retard the corn from falling upon the canvass; and it must not move too quickly, lest it should shake ripe grain. As before stated, it is 24 ft. in diameter, that is 94-2477 in. in circumference. But one revolution of BB passes over 132 in. of surface; therefore, that the collector 17 may just touch the corn, without bringing it back, or retarding it from naturally falling back, it must make 14 revolutions for every one that B B makes. Since there are 6 arms in 11, every arm will touch the standing corn at equal distances of 15.7 in. The pulley m makes 6 revolutions for 1 that B B makes: it is 6 in. in diameter, and the pulley n, upon the axle of 77, is 9 in.; therefore m revolves 1.5 times for once that n turns round, and the collector // revolves 4 times for once that the large wheels B B revolve. But 4×94-2477=376-99 in., the space passed through by the circumference of the collector, while the machine moves forward only 132, the difference of which is 244.99, the space that the collector passes over more than the machine, during one revolution of B B. Therefore, every inch of the corn is brought back 1:54 in. nearly, by the collector, which is sufficient to insure its falling backwards upon the canvass; and yet it touches the corn so gently, that it is impossible that it can injure it in the smallest degree. A quicker and a slower motion, however, is advisable; which is easily given, by having two or three sheaves upon the pulleys m and n; and then, by shifting the belt, a different motion is produced. With regard to the canvass, it is necessary that it should revolve as much as the ground passed over by the machine; that is, while the wheels B B make one revolution, or pass over 132 in. of the surface, 132 in. at least of canvass should pass over the rollers. w, as before stated, has 36 teeth, and x 18, so that the roller y will give two revolutions for one of w. But w revolves 6 times for 1 revolution of the wheels B B: hence the roller y will revolve 12 times for every revolution of B B. The diameter of the rollers is 4 in.; their circumferences, therefore, are nearly 12:56 in., 12 revolutions of which will give 150-72 in. As before stated, one revolution of B B gives only 132 in., wherefore there is a preponderance of motion, on the side of the canvass, of 18-72 in. for every revolution of B B. This velocity is necessary to insure the canvass of clearing itself in all cases; and, with a smart velocity, the cut corn is laid down with a greater angle to the path of the machine. It may here be observed, that it is often found convenient to have the canvass to lay down the corn on either side of the machine, according to the direction from which the wind is blowing. This may be done with a double wheel at x, with a handle in the usual method employed for reversing the motion of the rollers of the threshing machine. It were desirable, too, if possible, to have the canvass besmeared with a drying oil or gum, or some other substance which would prevent it from contracting with moisture: as the slightest shower, or dew of a morning, contracts it so much, as to render the implement useless until the corn is perfectly dry. This will form one of the improvements for next season. Patrick Bell. Aucherhouse, January 16. 1830. Mid Lioch, This reaping machine was invented by Mr. Bell, a young clergyman, in the early part of 1828; it was tried in the autumn of the same year in Forfarshire, and, as we have already stated (Vol. V. p. 600.), was found to do its work in a most efficient manner, and to be on the whole, by far the most perfect reaping machine that had hitherto been invented; though constructed, as the editor of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture states, at a very short notice, in consequence of his request. It was tried again in October 1829, and the following are some of the reports of the trials then made, which Mr. Bell, to whom we are under the greatest obligations for his ample descriptions and drawings, has furnished us at our request. We agree with some of the reporters, that few men deserve better of his country, and indeed, of every civilised country where agriculture is practised, than Mr. Bell; for surely that invention must ultimately be of great benefit to men and women, which enables them to do by horses, oxen, or steam, that which they have hitherto done by a most severe description of manual labour, rendered doubly oppressive by the season of the year in which it must necessarily be performed. Report No. 1.- We, the subscribers, members of the Highland Society, and others, having witnessed Mr. Patrick Beil's reaping machine, employed in cutting down barley and oats, at Greystone, in the parish of Monckie, Forfarshire, on the 16th of September, 1829, beg leave to express our entire satisfaction with the manner in which the work was performed. The barley was thin, rather a light crop, and though not wholly lodged, yet from the state of the weather, many of the plants were broken down in different directions. It was, however, cut by the machine, and laid in a regular manner, without a single ear being left behind, and the work was much more neatly executed than by any of the implements at present in use. The oats were a very heavy crop, and generally lodged; and it was supposed by every spectator that every attempt to cut them by a machine would prove entirely useless. The execution, however, was admirable; the stubble was equally cut, and the corn was laid in a straight continuous line, which could be collected with the greatest facility and despatch. Owing to the state of the crops, the machine could cut only in one direction, yet in half an hour it cut down 1 rood 21 fails Scotch measure. We understand that when the crop is not much laid by the weather, the machine will cut both going and returning ; and in that case the rate will be it acres per hour. Six persons are necessary to accompany the machine when operating, as witnessed by us, and a considerable portion of them may be women and children. The machine exhibited to us was 6 ft. broad, it was drawn by two horses, and they seemed to move and exert themselves much in the same manner as when going in the plough. Having made this statement of facts, we consider it altogether unnecessary to refer to the many and valuable advantages that would result from the introduction of such a machine into common use, as it will be readily acknowledged that the expense of harvest work would thus be greatly reduced, the inconvenience of obtaining and accommodating reapers greatly lessened, and the crop secured with much less danger from the weather. Besides the neatness and despatch with which the work was executed, we cannot omit to mention two advantages that seem to be peculiar to this machine:- it cuts and removes the corn to its place so gently, that there is no danger of shaking, even in potato oats come to full maturity, and the cutters being in the form of scissors, do not require to be sharpened, perhaps, in the course of a whole harvest. Fully satisfied ourselves of the utility of the invention, and of the immense benefit it will confer on agriculture, we humbly recommend to the Highland Society of Scotland to extend their patronage to this machine; to take the steps necessary for introducing it into general use, and remunerating Mr. Bell for the merit of the discovery, as well as for the labour and expense to which he has submitted for the public good. (Signed by a great many gentlemen and practical agriculturists, who witnessed the operation.) No. 3. The following is a report from three joint proprietors of one of these machines :We, the subscribers, having got one of Mr. P. Bell's reaping machines, beg leave to express our decided approbation of the work performed by it. From the advanced state of the harvest before the machine was got ready, we cannot state accurately the quantity that may be cut in a day; but from repeated trials that we made upon oats on the farm of Reedylees, near Auchtermuchty, Fifeshire, we should suppose it capable of cutting one Scotch acre in the hour. The trials were made before a number of practical agriculturalists, who all expressed themselves completely satisfied that the machine was calculated to perform the work to their entire satisfaction. The cutting is neatly performed, and not an ear left along the path of the machine, nor yet the least loss of grains by the shaking of the ears observable, although the oats were too ripe; being kept for the express purpose of exhibiting the machine; and the corn was laid in an even regular line, quite easily taken up, and put into sheaves, and, by the smallest attention, so clean, that no raking after it is required. It is our decided opinion that the machine will soon come into general use. Oct. 6. 1829. (Signed) GEORGE BUTCHART, Lumbenny. No. 6. The following is from an extensive farmer in Perthshire, who had a machine this season for his own use: Dear Sir, Mains of Fawlis Easter, Cct. 2. 1829. I have made a full trial of your reaping machine, by cutting wheat, barley, and oats with it this season, and am happy to state that I am fully convinced the machine will answer the purpose, and be a great saving to the corn farmer. The machine will cut from eight to ten acres a day, when the corn is standing and the ground even; and it is so laid down, that it can be taken up and put into sheaves more evenly than it is generally done with the hand and sickle, and I think at about half the expense. From the experience I have had, I am convinced that the reaping machine will be found a very useful implement to corn farmers; and I have no doubt it will soon be as general and as useful as the threshing machine now is. It is my opinion that a pair of horses would be able to work it upon level ground, although it were a foot or two broader. The Rev. P. Bell, &c. (Signed) THOMAS SMITH. Mr. Smith was so good as to obtain the signatures of thirteen of his neighbours, who witnessed his machine working, who all willingly subscribed his report. They are agriculturists of firstrate standing in his neighbourhood, the greater part of them from the Carse of Gowrie, No. 7.-The following letter is from an intimate friend of mine, who is a very extensive farmer in the neighbourhood of Dundee. He has no machine as yet of his own; but my machine, on its way to Greystone, the day before the exhibition, having to pass through his farm, he had it taken from the cart, and put to work amongst a field of wheat. Dear Sir, Morroes, Nov. 2. 1829. As you had the goodness to allow your newly invented reaping machine to be tried on my farm, on the 19th of September last, I have great pleasure in stating to you the result. The work |