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Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 12: 1837: The Panic of 1837 left Cyrus in considerable debt - he turned his attention to improving his harvesting machine It was therefore deemed of better quality than the invention of Cyrus and achieved a greater financial success Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 9: 1833: Obed Hussey of Ohio patented a mechanical reaper called the Hussey Reaper Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 11: Hussey's machine used a saw-like cutter bar which cut stalks far more effectively than McCormick's. Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 7: Robert McCormick was unsuccessful in his efforts to invent an efficient mechanical reaper but Cyrus, realizing the importance of a mechanical reaper, continued the quest using his father's basic design Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 8: 1831: Cyrus McCormick invents the horse drawn, McCormick mechanical reaper Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 6: 1824: Cyrus McCormick invented a lightweight cradle for carting harvested grain at the age of 15 Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 5: His father, Robert McCormick, had a family blacksmith shop and Cyrus worked with his father as he tried various methods to invent a mechanical reaper. Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 3: Cyrus McCormick was raised on the 1200 acre family farm in "Walnut Grove", north of Lexington, Virginia Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 4: Cyrus McCormick had a limited education at local schools He was the eldest of 8 children born to Robert McCormick and Mary Ann "Polly" Hall
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Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 1: The inventor of the mechanical reaper was Cyrus Hall McCormick (1809–1884) Mechanical Reaper Timeline Fact 2: 1809: Cyrus McCormick was born on Februin Rockbridge County, Virginia. The history of the Cyrus McCormick Mechanical Reaper is told in a factual timeline sequence consisting of a series of short facts providing a simple method of relating the history of the Cyrus McCormick Mechanical Reaper.Ĭyrus McCormick Biography and Mechanical Reaper Timeline and Facts for kids Interesting Cyrus McCormick Mechanical Reaper Facts and Timeline for kids are detailed below. The info about the McCormick reaper provides interesting facts and important information about this important event that occured during the presidency of the 7th President of the United States of America.Ĭyrus McCormick Mechanical Reaper for kids: Facts, Biography and Timeline
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His design was pulled by horses and cut the grain to one side of the horse team. The problem was that there was little labor to be had and the cost of the labor was highĬyrus McCormick solved this problem for the wheat farmers by inventing a horse drawn, mechanical reaper.Every year at harvest time this led to a few weeks in which there was there was a huge demand for labor on the wheat farms.When ripe it had to be quickly reaped and stored away out of the reach of the wet rain which would ruin the crop.Wheat must be allowed to stand until it is fully ripened.The success of wheat growing on the agriculture industry depended upon the ability quickly to harvest the crop. The grain crops that are reaped include wheat, rye, oats and maize.Ĭyrus McCormick Mechanical Reaper for kids: Wheat The McCormick reaper for kids: What crops are reaped? However, the invention of the mechanical reaper by Cyrus McCormick, and its use in the Northern states, equaled the importance that the 1793 Eli Whitney Cotton Gin and the development of the Samuel Slater cotton mills had made to the Southern States. This invention reduced the amount of labor required to prepare an acre for farming by half. In 1819 Jethro Wood patented an iron-bladed plow then in 1837, John Deere engineered a plow with sharp-edged steel blades that cut cleanly through the sod. The early farmers only had wooden plows to break the grass cover and roots of the turf. The climate of the Northern states was ideal for the production of wheat.
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The McCormick reaper for kids: Wheat in the North The McCormick mechanical reaper replaced the manual cutting of the crop with scythes and sickles. The McCormick reaper for kids: What is a reaper?Ī reaper is a person, or a farming machine, that reaps (gathers and cuts) crops at harvest, when they are ripe.
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