Great Exhibition Essay

Submitted By limintang
Words: 417
Pages: 2

This picture named “ Garrett’s improved threshing machine” comes from The Crystal Palace, and its contents : being an illustrated cyclopaedia of the great exhibition of the industry of all nations, 1851 : embellished with upwards of five hundred engravings, with a copious analytical index (1851) on page 125. As is shown, the machine helps farmers to thresh. With the previous threshing machine, people hold the straw firmly between two rollers while the corn can be beaten and scutched out by a series of bars. However it seemed to have little to do with the actual threshing the corn. While the improved threshing machine get rid of the rollers. The straw can be fed directly between the drum and the concave, and in its passage through it is rubbed out. Another “bolting machine” was brought in to reduce the damage to the straw by the action of beaters. In this way the straw is not bent or broken in the least by passing through and the threshing machine turns to offer great help. This picture impressed me because as soon as I saw this threshing machine, another image comes out in my mind. The image appears as in the past period, when the threshing machine has not been invented, the only way to thresh straw is by human efforts. Farmers had to stand under the big sun, holding the straw in their hands and hitting the ground or stone. This is no doubt a tedious, highly demanding and time taking work. However the invention of the threshing machine not only helps the farmers to save their time and efforts, but also