ill save wheat enough, beyond
the scythe and hooks, to pay all the expense of cutting and binding.

'SAMUEL LE COMPTE.'"

I next quoted again from the "Valley of the Upper Wabash, Indiana:"

HUSSEY'S GRAIN CUTTER

"Report of the Board of Trustees of 'The Maryland Agricultural Society,'
for the Eastern Shore, on the machine for harvesting small grain,
invented by Mr. Obed Hussey, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

[Sidenote: Invitation of Agricultural Board]

[Illustration: Silver medal won by Mr. Hussey with the Reaper at
Baltimore in 1850.]

[Sidenote: How the Reaper Worked]

"The favorable accounts of the operation of this implement in several of
the Western States, induced the board to invite Mr. Hussey to bring it
to Maryland, and submit it to their inspection. It was accordingly
exhibited in Oxford, Talbot county, on the first of July, in presence of
the board, and a considerable number of other gentlemen. Its performance
may justly be denominated perfect, as it cuts every spear of grain,
collects it in bunches of the proper size for sheaves, and lays it
straight and even for the binders. On the 12th of July a public
exhibition was made at Easton, under the direction of the board; several
hundred persons, principally farmers, assembled to witness it, and
expressed themselves highly satisfied with the result. At the Trappe,
where it was shown by the inventor on the following Saturday, an equal
degree of approbation was evinced. It was afterwards used on the farm of
Mr. Tench Tilghman, where 180 acres of wheat, oats, and barley were cut
with it. Three mules of medium size worked in it constantly, with as
much ease as in a drag harrow. They moved with equal facility in a walk
or a trot. A concise description of this simple implement will show that
it is admirably adapted to the important purpose for which it was
invented. Resting on two wheels, which are permanently attached to the
machine, and impart the motion to the whole, the main body of the
machine is drawn by the horses along the outer edge of the standing
grain. As the horses travel outside of the grain, it is neither knocked
down or tangled in the slightest degree. Behind the wheels is a platform
(supported by a roller or wheel), which projects beyond the side of the
machine five feet into the grain. On the front of the edge projecting
part of the platform is the cutter. This is composed of twenty-one
teeth, resembling large lancet blades, which are place