Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0413Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a large horse team towing a piece of farming equipment throung a field. Above the image "77" is printed, below the image "V23273 - Evolution of the Sickle and Flail - 33-Horse Harvester at Walla alla, Washington." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company Copyrighted, Underwood & Underwood Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Portland, Oregon, London, Eng., Sydney, Aus." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
V23273
33-HORSE HARVESTER AT WALLA WALL, WASH.
Lat. 46 (Degrees) N.; Long. 118 (Degrees) W.
There has been a marked development in the method of harvesting, especially in the last century. In olden times the single handed sickle was the only implement used for cutting grain. The operator would catch the cut stalks in his free arm and carry them until he had enough to bind into a sheaf. This sickle was supplanted by the double-handed scythe and later by the cradel.
The method of separating the grain was originally as crude as the method of cutting. The old-time flail was uesd. It consisted of a wooden bar or handle to which another bar, called the swingle, was attached. With this the grain was beaten out. Sometimes the sheaves were spread out on the floor and farm animals drew heavy planks studded with flints across them until the grain was separated. The straw was tehn removed by forks and the chaff blown away. But these primitive implements have gradually given place to more sanitary and modern ones, as the mower, the selfbinder, the heading machine and the thresing machine. A "combined harvester" like the one shown in the picture, includes in one machine a header, thresher, separator, fanning mill, and sacker. It will cut from 60 to 125 acres and thresh from 1700 to 3000 bushels a day.
The use of the tractor in operating farm machinery is fast taking the place of horse power. The gasoline engine, which furnishes the power, will work day and night if a rain threatens to spoil the grain. It never suffers from heat, and we are only commencing to find out how much machinery it can handle at a single operation.
Copyright by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection