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CCyy rr uu ss MMcc CCoorr mm iicckk Friend to Farmers by Jordan Maxwell Cover ©Getty Images; 3 ©Getty Images; 4–5 ©Australian Picture Library/Corbis; 6 ©Mary Evans Picture Library; 7–10 Xiangyi Mo ©Harcourt Education Australia; 11–12 ©Wisconsin Historical Society 0305001846-1, 0305002954-1; 13 ©Getty Images; 14 ©Wisconsin Historical Society 0305000637-1. Copyright © by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to School Permissions and Copyrights, Harcourt, Inc., 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777. Fax: 407-345-2418. HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt, Inc., registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions. Printed in Mexico ISBN 10: 0-15-351427-2 ISBN 13: 978-0-15-351427-2 Ordering Options ISBN 10: 0-15-351212-1 (Grade 2 Advanced Collection) ISBN 13: 978-0-15-351212-4 (Grade 2 Advanced Collection) ISBN 10: 0-15-358062-3 (package of 5) ISBN 13: 978-0-15-358062-8 (package of 5) If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Harcourt School Publishers retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited and is illegal. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 050 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 Cyrus McCormick invented a machine called a reaper. Cyrus’s reaper made it possible for farmers to cut and collect their crops faster than ever before. His reaper is still praised today. 3 RRXXEENNLL0088CCRRDD22XX__AALL__1199__TTXXTT..iinndddd 33 11//1166//0088 22::4400::0077 PPMM Here farmers are cutting the grain crop by hand. MMaakkiinngg aa RReeaappeerr Cyrus’s father had tried to build a machine pulled by horses to cut grain. He could never make it work properly. Cyrus decided to make his own machine, and he used his father’s work as a starting point. When Cyrus was young, farmers cut grain crops, such as wheat, by hand. They used a tool that looked like a big, curved knife. Harvesting was extremely difficult. 6 RRXXEENNLL0088CCRRDD22XX__AALL__1199__TTXXTT..iinndddd 66 11//2255//0088 1100::0044::4455 AAMM In 1831, Cyrus made a reaper that cut grain crops. The reaper also removed the hard outer shells of the grain. Cyrus’s machine could cut the grain crop much faster than a person. This is Cyrus McCormick’s grain reaper. 7 RRXXEENNLL0088CCRRDD22XX__AALL__1199__TTXXTT..iinndddd 77 11//2255//0088 1100::0066::5566 AAMM Farmers came to see Cyrus’s reaper, but they did not believe it would work. They thought it looked like a wheelbarrow, a carriage, and a flying machine! The farmers laughed at it and then returned home and kept using their old tools. 8 RRXXEENNLL0088CCRRDD22XX__AALL__1199__TTXXTT..iinndddd 88 11//1166//0088 22::4455::5522 PPMM Cyrus did not give up, though. For the next ten years, he did experiments to improve his reaper. He even added a blade that cut grain in wet weather. 9 RRXXEENNLL0088CCRRDD22XX__AALL__1199__TTXXTT..iinndddd 99 11//2255//0088 1100::0088::1144 AAMM SSuucccceessss!! In 1843, an inventor of another reaper challenged Cyrus to see whose machine would cut more grain. Luckily, it rained on the day of the contest. The other reaper jammed up, but Cyrus’s machine kept working. That year, Cyrus sold twenty-nine reapers. He was on his way. 10 RRXXEENNLL0088CCRRDD22XX__AALL__1199__TTXXTT..iinndddd 1100 11//1166//0088 22::4488::2211 PPMM