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Mechanical Reapers In The 1800s

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The reaping machine commonly referred to as the mechanical reaper was invented by Cyrus McCormick and Obed Hussey in 1833 and 1834. It followed a major pattern for its uses in the harvesting of wheat and other small grains as well as grasses. The invention of the mechanical reaper drastically changed the lives and yields of grain farmers. In regards to the eventual success and large effect of the reaping machine, the historians usually ask themselves why the machines take too long to be accepted despite its invention in 1833. The first machines that Obed Hussey invented were adopted in the mid-1850's. Why wasn’t a machine which could substantially increase productivity immediately adopted? Wouldn’t it have increased farmer’s profits during …show more content…

The model assumes that the farmers maximized their profits, the reapers could not be shared, the farm acre increased with time and the productivity of the acre did not depend on the farm size . This model is made to compare two distinct production techniques. It works from the statement that given the competitive markets, the individual producers will choose the technique that gives comparatively greater cost saving. It is what applied to the adoption of the mechanical reaper. During the 1830s-1840s, farmers opted to use animals and human hands because they engaged in small farming. The cost of purchasing the mechanical reaper was higher than using animals and human hands. There was also no sharing of cost among the farmers. Nevertheless, during the 1850s the demand for labor increased as farmers started large-scale farming. There was a need for cooperative sharing of the cost of the reaper as it was expensive to use animals for harvesting small grains. So, the only option for these farmers was to adopt the mechanization of the reaper. Drawing from Clarke (2002), the “threshold model” offers the conceptual platform for examining the cost determinant of technological diffusion. Indeed, through the assumptions of fairness asserted by Olmstead and Rhode, people maximize their profits through the budgetary constraints . It is what justify and support their claim about the adoption of the reaper. If these farmers could have adopted the reaper during the 1830s-1840s, they could not maximize their profits because it would have increased their budget. The cost of the machine was high, and they maximized profits independently. The best time for the adoption of the reaper was the 1850s because the demand for labor was high and the farmers had increased their acreage for

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