His
head is as white as snow, and his face as red as a cherry. A finer
old man one seldom sees. Temperance, activity, the open air, and a
good conscience, have left him a noble ruin; if ruin he can yet be
called. He owes the last blessing, as he told us himself, to the
fact that he kept clear of the whirlwind of speculation that passed
over this region some ten or fifteen years since. His means are
ample; and the harvest being about to commence, he invited me to the
field.
The peculiar ingenuity of the American has supplied the want of
laborers, in a country where agriculture is carried on by wholesale,
especially in the cereals, by an instrument of the most singular and
elaborate construction. This machine is drawn by sixteen or eighteen
horses, attached to it laterally, so as to work clear of the
standing grain, and who move the whole fabric on a moderate but
steady walk. A path is first cut with the cradle on one side of the
field, when the machine is dragged into the open place. Here it
enters the standing grain, cutting off its heads with the utmost
accuracy as it moves. Forks beneath prepare the way, and a rapid
vibratory motion of a great number of two-edged knives effect the
object.
Pages:
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785