Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Don Morfe
Taken: August 1, 2013
Caption: Cyrus H. McCormick Marker
Additional Description: McCormick Reaper-starting the mechanization of farming-The invention of the reaper in 1831 changed forever the work of cutting grain. Two men, a horse or mule, and a McCormick reaper could cut as much grain in one day as five experienced men could using cradle scythes-about ten acres- and do it with less waste of grain and cleaner swaths for the sheave tying. …Bundles were still hand-tied and the grain was carted to the threshing floor to be threshed by hand, but the reaper began the evolution of mechanized harvesting….The reaper in this display can and has cut wheat. However, planting grain by drill versus hand sowing means that present-day grain fields are much more densely planted than even 70 years ago. The 1831 version of the McCormick reaper cannot handle grain as it is planted today…The McCormick reaper sold for $100 in 1840. It was constantly improved and remained in production until it was replaced by the binder in 1876.
Submitted: August 2, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p249141
File Size: 1.683 Megabytes

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