Agricultural Implements and Machines in the Collection of the National Museum of History and Technology: Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, No. 17Schlebecker, John T.
History
Agricultural Implements and Machines in the Collection of the National Museum of History and Technology: Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, No. 17
Schlebecker, John T.
Agricultural implements -- United States -- Exhibitions; Agricultural machinery -- United States -- Exhibitions
21. Model Tractor with Plow, Harrow, and Roller, 1919. USNM 64098; 1919.
Spring-driven, toy tractor. The plow, harrow, and roller, as well as the
tractor itself, represent a typical machine of the period. The product
of no particular firm seems to have been copied. Gift of Toy
Manufacturers of the United States, New York, New York.
22. Meat Grinding Machine, about 1810. USNM 110326; 1930. Hand made of
wood and iron, with six parts held together by two iron bolts. The
cutting edges are set in the sides of a box parallel to each other and
about one-quarter inch apart. A shaft, set in the center of the box, is
turned by a crank. The horizontal shaft has iron slugs, graduated from
coarse to fine, set into the shaft in a helical pattern. The meat enters
through the square hole at the top and the iron teeth press it against
the knife edges; thus, the meat is cut smaller and smaller until it
comes out a small hole in the bottom of the machine. The device is very
ancient in design and could still be found in common use in the United
States as late as 1860. Gift of R. C. Fairhead, Rushville, Nebraska.
23. Carey Plow, about 1815. Received from Division of Ethnology in 1931.
A Carey plow with a slot in the beam for a colter. The landside handle
passes through the beam. Usually, the beam tenon passes through a
mortise in the handle. Possibly made by the farmer. Replication of a
common and popular American plow of the 18th century. Donor not known.
24. Hoe, about 1830. USNM 115122; 1931. Wrought-iron, handmade hoe made
in Ohio and attributed to very early 19th century. The hoe's blade is 5
inches wide and its handle is 6 feet long. Gift of Mrs. Grace M.
Swiggett, Washington, D. C.
25. Reaper Sickle Bar, about 1847. USNM 115878; 1931. Sickle bar from a
McCormick reaper. The blade style suggests a comparatively sophisticated
stage of development, most surely after 1833. David Cromer of Seneca
County, Ohio, used this sickle bar on a McCormick reaper. The blade is 5
feet long and 5 inches deep. Gift of Frank Hepp, Berwick, Ohio.
[Illustration: Figure 3.--Gail Borden's vacuum pan of 1853, used to make
condensed milk. (Catalog No. 26.)]
26. Borden Vacuum Pan, 1853. USNM 119188; 1932. The original vacuum pan
used by Gail Borden in 1853 for condensing milk by concentrating it in a
vacuum. He patented the process on August 19, 1856. Borden borrowed this
pan from nearby Shaker farmers who had used it for canning. Borden did
his early work at New Lebanon, New York. Borden at first failed to get a
patent because the process was not deemed useful. There is nothing
exceptional about this pan except that Borden used it. Gift of Borden
Milk Company, New York, New York.
27. Model of McCormick Reaper, 1834. USNM 121105; 1932. Scale model of
the grain reaper patented by Cyrus McCormick on June 21, 1834. Roderick
Davis constructed the model from the specifications of the patent. Gift
of Charles G. Abbot, Washington, D. C.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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