HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1985-09-04, Page 32et GueY eh l of egg
ted r e lie oa a
`of pioneers to agricjiitural sy4stems.
the.. occasion Of the Centennial f the
l til Agricultural College a short lastory
pioneer Ontario companies concerned
tit. the threshing of grain,,was featured,
' Tor research .work is primarily. that of
l roll S. 'Turner.' of Goderich;. an ardent
practical historian and early thresher --man.
'A threshing machine, sometimes called a
grain separator, combines three major
functions formerly done by hand -shelling
the grain from the head, separating the
straw. from' the grain and chaff, and
separating the grain from the chaff.
The first function was originally perform-
ed with a flail, or by treading the grain out
with animals. It was a long winter's chore
performed on the barn floor. It took. all day
to flail out seven bushels of wheat or 18
bushels of oats. It took another day to
separate the grain from the straw and chaff
by winnowing using a course sieve or riddle
or by the use of wooden fork with another
person fanning up a wind with a sheet. The
grain was then bagged.
The fanning mill was the first step toward
the mechanization of the grain cleaning
operation. It was possible to clean one
bushel per minute with one man turning the
fanning mill, one man feeding it and one
man bagging. With less help production
went down.
The first threshing machine worthy of the
name was patented by Andrew Meikle in
Scotland about 1786. It had an open peg -
tooth cylinder and a similar set of teeth
which acted as concaves. It was operated by
a one or two horse -power or a tread mill.
Machines of this type were common in
Canada in the 1830's -1840's.
The first patent for an agricultural imple-
ment in Canada was taken out in 1826 by
Noah Cushing of Quebec for a threshing
machine.
Hiram A, Pitts of Winthrop, Maine,
patented a thresher in 1837 which separated
as well as threshed. The straw passed over
an endless apron. This was the first prac-
tical machine and many were built under
e tie"fa]
-k .evvas add'
ctencv of < hreshe ha imp vel
Point whera it was no lnng0r nepp
r
Stem`
P ,
s g ahi the ugh a a tQ `}t.r fhrMe 1lkkes cot rerA
�11��'�h letdt'e: eua�ed �e
the ha
o :.
The early threshers 'had no" w p- The
thiln. .d--. tion ut 1875�t card againsx accidents dile toi ,water, were subs t to freez
eters. straw elevators saved t Wit! ion tuniblln' rotds on -hor , ' owers.. ^ 288 ai 4; ,uent. boiler finspect
ed to build the stack but at ail atioilalrpo
uy
charge to the farmer, The straw stacker • tCC w,as also pessed ` reel.irli spark aim Ste. 0, the
en►e DO0
xge of eamd
19 's challenged::by i
•gaStortue' tracto . Steam toad :t
peak of its effic ency.but thq474
lurgt atn+1 heavy„ t e ur
�i
could be swivelled from side to side. Wind resters on stea hing engieeeN
stackers, were introduced about 1890. They
required more power but improved the
working conditions .at'threshingtime . r
In 18$5, fora threshing machine of 7.50-$00,
bushels per day capacity, two men were us-
ed to cut the bands on the bundles, two men
fed the bundles, two men measured and bag-
ged the grain- by 1900 these operations were
all automatic and the mill had double the.
capacity of 1885.
Horse power provided the energy needed
to thresh the grain. There were two types of
machine used to convert the energy
developed by the animals into motion.
suitable for the thresher.
A tread power depended for energy on the
weight of the horses (1 to 4) which caused an
endless chain to turn. A brake was released
to start the tread power moving. A tread
power was much harder on a horse than a
sweep. The sweep power converted The
linear motion of the horse into rotary motion
used to operate the thresher. From one to 14
horses were hitched to the sweep which was
geared through long tumbling rods to
another set of gears at the thresher.
Horsepowers could not transmit the
power required to operate larger threshing
mills. Steam power. provided the, first suc-
cessful mechanical prime . mover for
agriculture. The problem was to build a
steam engine cheap enough for the small
farmer. This proved ..to be impossible and
the threshing of grain became a custom
operation. It was not really a farm machine.
Portable steam engines hauled by horses
first appeared in England in 1832, and in the
Welcome
to the
24th THRESHER RE -UNION
...during your visit to Blyth stop at
WEEKEND SPECIALS
the
Saturday and Sunday I31yt1)
4p.m.-8p.m. lon
ROAST BEEF BUFFET , f
Includes: Salad Bar. Dessert and Beverage
1_ 1
LUNCHEON SPECIALS
Saturday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
1
SUNDAY BRUNCH
10 a.m.-2p.m.
Includes: Salad, Hot Dishes, Fruit. Dessert and Beverage
Live Entertainment In The "Rubber Boot Lounge"
Friday and Saturday Night also, Saturday Matinee
"DOUG MCNAUL"
Lic. under L.L.B.O.
523-9381
s
e at
bit
ea
lei
fig,eather'and.
Th a vast new
e
WALDEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Fr encily, ul teom$ , ®f' ootti,, .
for pictures you will, treasure
forever.
Cale: 523-9212
Blyth•
Weleame to 24t %gaga
PIONEER THRESHER
and
HOBBY ASSOCIATION REUNION ,
ea
FRIDAY -SATURDAY and SUNDAY
September 6-7-8
SCRIMGEOUR'S
FOOD MARKET
KNECNTEL
Friendly Courtesy We'Reseive the Right to Limit
Carry Out Service, to Normal Family Requirements
STORE HOURS: Mon.,Tus.,W.d.,Sot. 0L70.m.6pm:Thurs.,fa.I:30om.9pm
YOUR KNECHTEL ASSOCIATE STORE
•A