The encyclopædia britannica; a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information . ds in bleaching, which is almost as detrimental to its quahtyas wet-weathering. In the last quarter of the 19th century the methods of hay-making were completely changed, and even some of the principlesunderlying its practice were revised. Generally speaking, beforethat time the only implements used were the scythe, the rakeand the pitchfork; nowadays—with the exception of thepitchfork—these implements are seldom used, except wherethe work is carried on in a small way. Instead of the scythe, forin
The encyclopædia britannica; a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information . ds in bleaching, which is almost as detrimental to its quahtyas wet-weathering. In the last quarter of the 19th century the methods of hay-making were completely changed, and even some of the principlesunderlying its practice were revised. Generally speaking, beforethat time the only implements used were the scythe, the rakeand the pitchfork; nowadays—with the exception of thepitchfork—these implements are seldom used, except wherethe work is carried on in a small way. Instead of the scythe, forinstance, the mowing machine is employed for cutting the crop,and with a modern improved machine taking a swathe as wideas s or 6 ft. some 10 acres per day can easily be mown by oneman and a pair of horses (figs, i and 2). It will be seen from the figures that a mower consists of threeprincipal parts: (l) a truck or carriage on two high wheels carr>-ingthe driving gear; (2) the cutting mechanism, comprising a reciprocat-ing knife or sickle operating through slots in the guards or fingers. Fig. 1.—Mower (viewed from above) with enlarged detail of Blade.(Harrison, MGregor & Co.) fastened to the cutting bar which projects to either the right orleft of the truck; and (3) the pole with whippletrces, by which thehorses are attached to give the motive power. The reciprocatingknife has a separate blade to correspond to each finger, and is drivenby a connecting rod and crank on the fore part of the truck. Inwork the pointed fingers pass in between the stalks of grassand the knives shear them off, acting against the fingers as the crankdrives them backwards and forwards. In the swathe of grass left HAY 107 behind by the machine, the stalks arc, in a manner, thatched overone another, so that it is in the best position for drying in the sun,or, per contra, for shedding off the ram if the weather is wet. Thisis a treat point in favour of the use of the machine, because theswathe lef
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectencyclo, bookyear1910
