Rural Column.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 197, 19 April 1878, Page 7

Rural Column.

* A NOVEL STRAW-BINDER. We are reminded to notice the report of a novel straw-binder which has been sent to us from Chicago, and which ap- , pears to have gone through a successful trial. . Our friends have already shown us what can be. done with wire binders ; but it will be a still greater feat if the straw itself can be used. Many of our readers may have heard of the Marsh harvester machine, a reaper with a binding platform, at which two or three men riding on the machine tied the grain as it was delivered from the knife by the aid of revolving belts. The new mechanism is fixed to the Marsh harvester frame, and supersedes the • manual binders. Some idea of this very ingenious invention may be gathered from the following- description, which we reproduce from a Chicago paper, entitled the *' Factory and Farm.' The grain when cut is delivered over the driving wheel into a receptacle not unlike that seen on other binders. A cut-off detains the falling grain, while, a small reel attached to the binder presses it into the jaw of an iron clamp that stands open while the bundle is being gathered ; when ready for being bound, the clamp closes upon the straw, taking about one-Third of the butt end of the sheaf in its embrace, giving it a perfectly round form, when ft commences a slow revolution, carrying the bundle with it, while a long needle, in appearance not unlike an enlarged ■ crochet hook, with a barbed point on one side, accomplishes the work of binding in the following manner : — At each step in the revolution of the bundle the needle dives into it, and draws a loop of straw from the centre. Another step in the revolution, and the needle again enters the bundle, bringing out another of straw, drawing it through the previous loop, the two being united like two links of a chain. The process continues until it goes one and a half tiroes round the bundle, in order to prevent any slipping. At the close of the revolutions, the jaws of the clamp open, and the binder reel ejects the bound bundle, and reels more grain into the emptied jaws, when the same process is repeated. One most important feature in this marvellously ingenious combination is that the binder does not commence to run until a sufficient bulk of grain has been collected into the receptacle, it is said, and we can readily believe it, that the band is very tight about the bundle, and being woven in, it is impossible to become loose or slip ; but when cut it passes readily through the machine, and does not in any way interfere with the threshing. What appears to us doubtful is whether in full crops, such as our farmers strive to grow, the sheaf can be made to revolve sufficiently rapid to get clear of the inflowing grain. As described, the revolution and a halt appears a longer time than would be required to cut and elevate the material required ior a sheaf. It only remains to state that the new invention is ujanufactured by the Marsh Harvester Company, of Sycamore, Illinois. In reference to these important machines, we are glad to notice that the Council of the R. A. Society have adopted the recommendation of their judges, to continue the offer of a prold medal at the Bristol, or in connec* tion with the Bristol Meeting; and we. may hope that the additional opportunity may be seized by both American as well as English inventors to bring forward novelties. At Islington some of the American wire binders were shown. We especially noticed W. A. Wood's, to which the R. A. Society have awarded a silver medal as a recogof progress. — The Field. M. Fehrmann, a German, has just invented an apparatus which he calls a " Pferdoschoner." It is intended to diminish the fatigue of horses in draw- { ing vehicles, and also to avoid the chances at breaking the shafts and traces. It consists of a number of indiarubber rings, separated from each other by iron rundles, contained in a cylindrical case, with a metallic rod fixed to the last rundle and passing through the whole. When the animal pulls, that rod compresses the caoutchouc, and the weight comes gradually on the horse's shoulders, j The length ot the appai*atus is about one foot, and two' are required for each horse. They are interposed between the traces and the trace hooks, thus forming an elastic ■ pad between the animal and the weight to be drawn, fn commencing to pull, horses do not make a gradually increasing 1 effort, but at once precipitate themselves on their collai's with a sudden jerk, wasting their strength, and very probably doing themselves injury. The apparatus in question remedies that difficulty by the gradual compression of the indiarubber rings. The German Government considered this invention of sufficient importance to order it to be tested by official experiments. The results showed that — with the apparatus — the initial effort was only one-third of that without it, and that, afterwards, the strain on the horse was reduced by some 15 per cent. In trotting, the initial effort was reduced by one-half, and the subsequent relief nearty as much as in the former case. : • The wheat crop jusb gathered in the i United States is stated to be the largest eter obtained in that country.