(i) Once the crop had ripened, it had to be harvested. Before the 1830s, the
grain used to be harvested with a cradle or sickle.
(ii) At harvest time, hundreds of men and women could be seen in the fields
cutting the crop.
(iii) In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented the first mechanical reaper which
could cut in one day as much as five men could cut with cradles and 16
men with sickles.
(iv) By the early 20th century most farmers were using combined harvesters
to cut the crop.
(v) With one of these machines, 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in
two weeks.