Ancient History 104 - You Reap What You Sow Traditional Cache
Ancient History 104 - You Reap What You Sow
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Another in the Ancient History series. This one will be a short find, however, the history behind it is interesting. The first 100 McCormick reapers were built in Brockport, known as "the Red Village" for its prominent brick homes. The old factory site, now McCormick Park, is located on the Erie Canal near the Park Avenue bridge.
DO NOT GO NEAR THE EDGE OF THE CANAL. IT'S DANGEROUS! SO IF THE GPS POINTS THERE, SEARCH ELSEWHERE. YOU CAN REACH THE CACHE SAFELY.
The invention of the reaper by Cyrus Hall McCormick sparked a mechanical revolution in agriculture. Farmers needed a practical way to harvest large crops of wheat.
McCormick was born on February 15, 1809, at Walnut Grove, a small farm near Steele Tavern, Virginia. He was the first-born child of Robert and Mary Ann McCormick. At an early age, Cyrus was deeply influenced by his mother, who inspired him to make a place for himself in the world.
Cyrus started out as an inventor in Rockbridge County, Virginia. At the age of fifteen, he invented a light cradle to help him compete with the adults in the harvest fields.
In 1831 he demonstrated the first successful grain reaper during a public trial on a field near his hometown. For the invention, Cyrus utilized the six elements essential to all reapers: a straight knife to cut the grain; fingers or guards to prevent the grain from slipping sideways; a revolving reel to hold the grain against the knife; a platform behind the knife to receive the cut grain; shafts to provide a forward draft; and a divider on the left side to separate the cut and uncut grain. McCormick did not originate those six principles. His contribution was a master wheel that would carry weight and provide the necessary power. Thus, he added the seventh component of the reaper. By combining the seven principles, Cyrus assembled the first successful reaper.
Due to his salesmanship and demonstrations, his reaper began to sell. In 1843 Cyrus set a price of $100 per reaper and sold seven. In 1844 twenty-nine reapers were sold. The next year fifty-eight reapers were sold and shipped to other states. However, a transportation problem developed, and reapers often arrived too late for harvest. For 15 years he could not figure out how to manufacture it in quantity. Cyrus realized that he needed to select agents to build the reapers by his pattern and sell them to nearby farms. Somehow, McCormick was persuaded to let the Brockport foundry of Backus and Fitch give it a try.
McCormick hired them to make 100 reapers and they did. They all failed, but then he went to the Seymour and Morgan foundry, which did the job. It was the first successfully manufactured farm machine.
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Be sure to visit all the Anceint History caches:
Ancient History 101 - Smith Family
Ancient History 102 - First Settlement
Ancient History 103 - Soldiers Memorial Tower
Ancient History 104 - You Reap What You Sow
Ancient History 105 - Mistaken Identity
Placed by a member of NYGO
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gnat Zvpr... (nantenz)