Mechanical reaper

A reaper is a person (or machine) who reaps, or harvests (cuts and gathers) crops when they are ripe.

Hand reaping

Hand reaping is done by various means, including plucking the ears of grain directly by hand, cutting the grain stalks with a sickle, cutting them with a scythe, or with a later type of scythe called a cradle. A sickle is a hand-held Agricultural Tool with a curved Blade typically used for harvesting grain crop or cutting grass for Hay. For the ancient Sicilian tyrant see Scythes. A scythe (ˈsaɪð from Old English siðe. A cradle is an agricultural tool a form of the Scythe, used to reap grain Reaping is usually distinguished from mowing, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for cutting grass for hay, rather than reaping crops. A mower is a machine for cutting crops or plants that grow on the ground

Reaped grain stalks tied together in a bunch is called a sheaf (plural sheafs or sheaves), and several of these may be stood together to dry out with the ears off the ground, forming stooks. A stack of sheaves may be stored for winter threshing, the sheaves being placed with the ears inwards, then covered with thatch or a tarpaulin; this is called a stack or rick (in the British Isles, where "corn" traditionally means "grain", normally corn-rick, to distinguish it from a hay rick). Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of Cereal Grain from the scaly inedible Chaff that surrounds it A tarpaulin or tarp is a large sheet of strong flexible Water resistant or Waterproof material often Cloth such as Canvas or polyester The British Isles (Irish variously Na hOileáin Bhriotanacha, Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa, Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór; Ellanyn Goaldagh Eileanan Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica Ricks would be made in an area inaccessible to livestock, called a rick-yard or stack-yard.

Collecting spilt grain from the field after reaping is called gleaning, and was traditionally done either by hand, or by penning animals such as chickens on the field. Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from

Mechanical reaping

A mechanical reaper or reaping machine is a mechanical, semi-automated device, a machine that reaps. A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity

The Romans invented a simple mechanical reaper that cut the ears without the straw and was pushed by oxen (Pliny the Elder Nat. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC An ear is the top part of a Grain plant such as Wheat or Maize. Straw is an agricultural By-product, the dry stalk of a Cereal plant after the Grain or Seed has been removed Oxen (singular ox) are Cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult castrated males Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author His. 18,296). This device was forgotten in the Dark Ages, during which period reapers reverted to using scythes and sickles to gather crops. This article is about the phrase "Dark Age(s" as a characterization of the Early Middle Ages in Western Europe For the ancient Sicilian tyrant see Scythes. A scythe (ˈsaɪð from Old English siðe. A sickle is a hand-held Agricultural Tool with a curved Blade typically used for harvesting grain crop or cutting grass for Hay.

A much more sophisticated mechanical reaper was invented in 1831 in Union Bridge, Maryland, and patented by Cyrus McCormick in 1834 as a horse-drawn farm implement to cut small grain crops. Cyrus Hall McCormick Sr ( February 15 1809 &ndash May 13 1884) of Rockbridge County Virginia was an American The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. It developed into and was replaced by the reaper-binder, which was in turn replaced by the swather and eventually the combine harvester. The reaper-binder, or binder, was a farm implement that improved upon the Reaper. A swather is a Farm implement that cuts Hay or small grain crops and forms them into a Windrow. The combine harvester, or simply combine, also known as a thresher is a machine that combines the

See also

• Harvesting
• Combine harvester
• Museum of Scottish Country Life
• Death (personification) (the "Grim Reaper")
• Grim Reaper (disambiguation)

External links

• U.S. Patent X8,277  Reaper: C. In Agriculture, the harvest is the process of Gathering mature crops from the fields Reaping is the cutting of Grain The combine harvester, or simply combine, also known as a thresher is a machine that combines the The National Museums of Scotland and partners have developed the National Museum of Rural Life, previously known as the Museum of Scottish Country Life, In English Death is often given the name the " Grim Reaper " and shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large Scythe, and wearing a midnight black gown robe H. McCormick
• Gallo-Roman reaper