Ridley reaping machine |
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| Title : | Ridley reaping machine |
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| Creator : | South Australian Chamber of Manufactures | ||
| Date of creation : | ca. 1843 | ||
| Format : | Artwork | ||
| Dimensions : | 760 x 1520 mm | ||
| Contributor : | State Library catalogue | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Description : |
In 1843 the colony of South Australia experienced harvest difficulties - there was an increasing demand for food supply, but a shortage of labour available to harvest by hand. In response to a competition organised by the Grain Exchange, a mechanical wheat stripper was designed and built by John Wrathall Bull. John Ridley improved Bull's design and successfully developed the stripper as a working machine.
The Ridley reaping machine stripped the grain from the crop using a comb and rotating bars, and stored it in the 'boot' of the machine for later winnowing. This South Australian invention revolutionised the harvesting of wheat in dry climates, and greatly increased the amount of land cultivated. |
| Subjects | |
| Related names : | Bull, John Wrathall, 1804-1886 Ridley, John, 1806-1887 |
| Period : | 1836-1851 |
| Further reading : | Brownbill, Kay. It started here, [196-?] Jones, Leslie James. John Ridley's contributions to Australian technology and to the early progress of South Australia, 1979 Ph.D. Thesis, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 1980 Reddin, JW. The first stripper: settling an historical argument, Glen Osmond, S. Aust.: JW Reddin, 1992 |
| Internet links : | Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Search: Ridley, John; Bull, John Wrathall |
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