THE ROMANCE OF THE REAPER

[Music] this was the American scene in the summer of 1831 little fields of waving grain arduously planted cultivated by back-breaking toil and harvested with crude implements which had been little improved for centuries until recent generations farmers were using the same reaping hooks and sickles as the ancient Egyptians with a sickle a man could cut only half an acre of grain in a long hard day truly mankind was shackled to the soil engaged in an endless struggle for bread centuries after the sickle came the side even though using both hands one man could cut only two and a half acres a day the size came the cradle with long fingers to lay the grain in rows and binding became easier these three hand tools the tools of famine slavery and failure represented the entire progress of harvesting implements until just a little more than a hundred years ago in this peaceful setting an event took place which was destined to change the entire course of Agriculture and banished the drudgery of hand farming here in the valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains was the old mccormick homestead and here we shall see an historically faithful reenactment of the building of the world's first successful rebirth on this virginia farm stood the old mccormick blacksmith shop which became the first place of that instrument of freedom the reaper it was only a crude farm smithy where Cyrus Hall mcCormick at 22 worked on his invention but he was impelled by the same driving power which has ever caused men a vision to toil on until that which is an idea takes physical shape others had tried to invent a mechanical Reaper for which there was a desperate need over all the world new lands were being open to to the development of America was waiting for some better cheaper way to harvest grain and the tools of old were like so many ancient betters on the limbs of men young mcCormick as a boy of 15 had already made an improved cradle by which he was able to keep up with able-bodied men in the field later he invented a plow which through alternate furrows on either side it was his vision of a new day on the farm which fired him to accomplish what had long been only a cherished dream in the minds of many men the source of the young man's inspiration was his father Robert McCormick who had attempted to design a mechanical reverse far back as 1816 and again in the year 1831 the elder McCormick had devised other machines for mill and farm but the key to the riddle of the Reaper was not to be his some of the friends and neighbors in the community were highly sympathetic and encouraging to young Cyrus such was Colonel James McDowell full of faith in the boys ability and perseverance to others such as Captain William Massey the problem seemed impossible of solution [Music] doubt and skepticism characterized the manner and words of the captain he typifies the people of the day believing in a waste of time and energy to try to create a mechanical Reaper it was the firm conviction of such men that there must always be the toilers with their scythes and cradles in the fields [Music] undaunted by such cynicism and encouraged by the faith of his friends McCormick persevered with his only helper the faithful servant Joe Anderson he fitted each piece bit by bit as gradually a basic part took shape the knife blade on which he worked was to be propelled forward through the grain cutting it with a side-to-side motion out of this sliding cutting bar evolved a principle which has since been embodied in all successful harvesting machines one interested observer was William younger brother of the inventor he visited the shop in the field many times while the frame took shape around a great wooden bull wheel this main wheel was designed to carry the weight of the machine and to impart motion to both real and cutting blade as the machine was pulled along the ground captain Massey had called it a contraption no doubt it was a strange creation - one who could not visualize how all these parts would work other interested spectators were the two younger brothers Leander and John the workshop was to them just another spot in their rounds of play over the serene and comfortable home farm was with only the usual fascination of young boys for mechanical oddities that they watched the word progress but there was one who had unbounded faith in Cyrus Mary Ann Hall McCormick his mother full of solicitude lest he exhaust himself she was proud of her son's desire to finish his work in time for the present harvest for in that day of tedious toil much time was required to cut the grain and as always it must be gathered at just the right time it was the farmers greatest dread that once the grain was ripe the weather would not hold fair until it was gathered with this in mind the Karma kept at the job constantly partly stopping for meals while the elder McCormick had abandoned his own effort to build a practical Reaper he was intensely interested in the progress of the work under the hands of his son Cyrus McCormick began at the point where other inventors had failed others had relied on knives which worked like a scythe or on a rotary cutter or on one which worked like vibrating shears but McCormick sliding cutting bar was to prove the sound and lasting device which has prevailed in all of the Reapers with which we are familiar today but the knife alone was not enough to reap the standing grain it was necessary to find a means of cutting that which had fallen and become a tangled mess a reel would be needed large enough to reach forward and pick up the low lying stalks and pressed them against the blade and so part by parts under the inspiration of his sympathetic parents the young inventors drove toward his goal [Music] it was now approaching the end of summer the short harvesting period always rushed by so fast that tons of grain often lay rotting in the fields Syrus could not wait for another season this workshop was a far cry from the modern laboratories and machine shops of today where scientists chemists draftsman and mechanical engineers turn out our modern inventions the materials of Syrus McCormick's time were only the native hardwoods of the virginia hills and pieces of iron iron which had to be patterned and shaped by hand at the forge metallurgical knowledge we have today and the devices for cutting gears and casting metal parts were unheard of then here was a young man who had never seen a railroad and never been to college using only such knowledge as he had gained on the farm and materials found at hand in that early day all the great basic inventions had great obstacles to overcome the engine of Eli Whitney the steamboat of Robert Fulton the sewing machine of Elias Howe and on down the line of machines which did so much to change our lives and times so much to add to the ease of living in the past 100 years [Music] day by day the Reaper grew from an idea into a machine the fingers at the edge of the cutting blade solved the problem of supporting the grain while it was being cut McCormick developed another important feature which he called the outside divider a curved arm to separate the grain to be cut from that which was left standing with so many innovations it was small wonder that the doubting ones were convinced that young McCormick was wasting his time how could these various parts all function together wasn't it too much to believe that this main wheel moving along the ground could motivate these crudely shaped parts and make them work captain Massey thought so but the determined inventor felt safe in declaring that within a few days time before this harvest was over they would see this machine really cutting grain [Music] at last the day for a public test arrived Cyrus's own mother and father the boy and his sisters Amanda Joanna and Mary Caroline had already gone to the appointed place colonel McDowell's family loyal and hopeful were among the first to start for the field captain Massey was not the only one who travelled to the neighboring field convinced that a failure would be witnessed and one more man marked with derision as a crazy inventor [Music] naturally the projected experiment had been noised about the countryside farmers villagers and their families prej from miles to take in the show this would be just about as good as a circus probably more were prepared to have a good laugh than to applaud at the test of neighbor McCormick's new fangled grain cutter such as it was the Reaper was ready for its test last-minute preparations at the old blacksmith shop found Joe as he hitched up excited over the prospect much more so than the inventor himself would gone to dress for the occasion but for every neighbor who found time to visit the field several others felt they dared not leave the harvesting the loss of any precious hour when the crop was right to be cut with the danger of the grain becoming too ripe and breaking down might be disastrous of course the inventor would take a last minute look at his creation to see that every part was ready for the first public appearance the drive wheel the reel the cutting bar all were in place and Joe's important duty was to be the raker drawing the grain from the platform which had been designed to catch it [Music] farmers whose backs were bent and whose fingers were scarred from the harvest labor blast with contemptuous curiosity at the queer rate which was expected to cut grain without the use of the hands [Music] the barnyard doubting Thomases were not giving up their cradles just yet no siree [Music] it was only a rough Virginia road but it proved to be young McCormick's road of destiny his pathway to service for all humanity the historic spot were the first public exhibition of the cutting of grain by a mechanical Reaper took place was closed by the old McCormick homestead it was in a field of late grain owned by John Steele at the nearby hamlet of Steele's tavern as family friends and neighbors gathered waiting for McCormick and his Reaper to appear an air of curious expectancy was in the crowd [Music] the confident ones and the doubters were on hand which would be right when the machine was put to the test in the waving gray at last young Cyrus and his lumbering Reaper entered the field and moved down toward the grain part of John Steele's field had already been cut by hand now they would say whether McCormick's invention could do as well [Music] the little group around the machine was eager to get a good look at the contrivance here indeed was a strange monstrosity a pioneer hopefully plodding westward with his few Goods his axe in his scythe look curiously at the scene which seemed to concern him little he could not know what this invention would mean to him in the development of the West the onlookers wondered why doesn't it go will it go they would believe it when they really saw it work [Music] miracle of miracles young McCormick's invention was actually reaping grain to the amazement of all the contraption that had amused the countryside was literally marching down the field cutting grain just as clean as a whistle the crowd saw with its own eyes a clean line being marked off by the divider the real pressing the grain toward the blade the stationary fingers hold the stalks firmly against the night the platform catching the grain six times faster than grain ever fell before they saw the ponderous creation jolting down John Steele's field on its big main wheel and the stout gears which Cyrus had fashioned with his own hands impelling motion to all these fantastic parts it was clumsy as an ox cart but it reached it proved that the basic idea which the young man had worked out was sound here was a scene to make historians wonder why most men had been content with the same farm tools which had been used for centuries while the world was crying for bread here was a nation which had been established for more than 50 years but so far no grain had ever been cut by machine and today we can realize the magnitude of the event when we consider that if we reaped our grain as the Romans did with sickle in size it would require half the population to produce our bread not to mention the rest of the food we eat here indeed was an eventful day the world's first successful Reaper Cyrus McCormick's machine and cut as much as six men could have cut by the best methods in use before that time history had been made that day on a little Virginia farm the hopes and dreams of a father true through the genius the will and determination of his son your Reaper is a success Robert McCormick told him and I am proud to have a son - what I could not do doubt and cynicism gave way to conviction even Massey was among the first to offer congratulations and so the Pioneer moved westward followed by wave on wave of emigration but none dreamed that their sons would see in this machine and others descended from it the means of building an agricultural Empire in the West far beyond the horizon of their imagination to have invented the Reaper in 1831 was not enough nearly ten years passed before McCormick was ready to make his first sale with characteristic tenacity he kept him proving and demonstrating it to a still somewhat dubious world in 1847 McCormick established his own Factory in Chicago thus starting the world's greatest harvesting machine works by 1851 and improved cutting mechanism was padded and another feature a seat for the raker that year the Reaper took first prize at the London Exhibition in 1855 the Reaper won the gold medal at the Paris Exposition this was another step in the progress of the harvest the self raking Reaper the first truly one-man machine in 1858 came the marsh harvester cutting 10 acres a day two men riding on the machine tied the grain by hand this was the forerunner of the self binding machines as the grain was delivered to an elevated platform in the right position to be bound the first self binder appeared in the 70s to steel fingers moved come forth and twisted a wire band around each sheep of brain it increased the cut to as much as 14 acres a day but the farmers were afraid that the wire might injure the cattle and something better was needed the answer was the first twine binder an amazing development of the early 80s steel arms flashed the court around a bundle of grain tied a knot cut the cord and kicked off the Sheep one man could harvest 20 acres of grain in one day with the development of power farming came the tractor binder the tractor not only drawing the binder but also furnishing through the power take-off direct driving power to operate the machine and binding mechanism in harvested 35 acres a day almost twice as much as any horse-drawn binder a long step forward from the old wooden main wheel of 1831 latest and greatest of all harvesting machines is the harvester thresher or combine the great grandchild of McCormick's first Reaper with all the modern refinements added to those basic principles this giant of farm machines is far beyond the imagination of the people who watch that first simple Reaper rolling steadily across the fields the combine cuts Thresh's and cleaned in one operation from 15 to 50 acres in a single day beneath the sound of this most advanced harvester thresher is still the software of that first Reaper continual development through the years has produced this marvelous machine where the threshed clean grain is delivered to the grain tank and the straw and chaff are returned to the soil to help maintain productivity the respective models of the harvester thresher have been adapted to every grain seed or bee in all the great crop areas of the world there's the right adaptation for every crop condition and the right size of machine for every size farm serving the smallest and the largest there's the correct model and equipment for every section of the country whether in the hills on the plains or in the rice fields the Sun never sets on these machines as they harvest the world's great crops of grain seeds and beans for all mankind these machines that have grown and developed from the first successful Reaper on a Virginia farmer from reaping hook to combine from treachery to bountiful production on the farm from worldwide one to worldwide Plenty such as the romantic saga of progress that began with Cyrus Hall McCormick's invention in 1831 the romance of the Reaper [Music]