Reaper
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2008-07-13T12:10:27Z
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{{Otheruses4|the person or machine related to farming|the television series|Reaper (TV series)}}
{{otheruses}}
[[Image:Agriculture 2.jpg|thumb|Mechanical reaper]]
A '''reaper''' is a person (or machine) who reaps, or harvests (This can also mean reaper of souls, the harvester of souls..) (cuts and gathers) [[crop (agriculture)|crops]] when they are ripe.
==Hand reaping==
Hand reaping is done by various means, including plucking the ears of grain directly by hand, cutting the grain stalks with a [[sickle]], cutting them with a [[scythe]], or with a later type of scythe called a [[Cradle (grain)|cradle]]. Reaping is usually distinguished from ''[[Mower|mowing]]'', which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for cutting grass for hay, rather than reaping crops.
Reaped grain stalks tied together in a bunch is called a ''sheaf'' (plural ''sheafs'' or ''sheaves''), and several of these may be stood together to dry out with the ears off the ground, forming ''stooks''. A stack of sheaves may be stored for winter [[threshing]], the sheaves being placed with the ears inwards, then covered with [[thatch]] or a [[tarpaulin]]; this is called a ''stack'' or ''rick'' (in the [[British Isles]], where "[[corn]]" traditionally means "[[grain]]", normally ''corn-rick'', to distinguish it from a ''hay rick''). Ricks would be made in an area inaccessible to livestock, called a ''rick-yard'' or ''stack-yard''.
Collecting spilt grain from the field after reaping is called [[gleaning]], and was traditionally done either by hand, or by penning animals such as [[chicken]]s on the field.
==Mechanical reaping==
A '''mechanical reaper''' or '''reaping machine''' is a mechanical, semi-automated device, a [[machine]] that reaps.
The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] invented a simple mechanical reaper that cut the [[ear (botany)|ears]] without the [[straw]] and was pushed by [[oxen]] ([[Pliny the Elder]] ''Nat. His. 18,296''). This device was forgotten in the [[Dark Ages]], during which period reapers reverted to using [[scythe]]s and [[sickles]] to gather crops.
A much more sophisticated mechanical reaper was invented in 1831 in Union Bridge, Maryland, and patented by [[Cyrus McCormick]] in 1834 as a [[horse]]-drawn farm implement to cut small [[cereal|grain]] crops. It developed into and was replaced by the reaper-[[binder]], which was in turn replaced by the [[swather]] and eventually the [[combine harvester]].
==See also==
*[[Harvesting]]
*[[Combine harvester]]
*[[Museum of Scottish Country Life]]
*[[Death (personification)]] (the "Grim Reaper")
*[[Grim Reaper (disambiguation)]]
==External links==
* {{US patent|X8277}} ''Reaper'': C. H. McCormick
* [http://www.gnrtr.com/tendencies/en/t08.html Gallo-Roman reaper]
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[[Category:Agricultural machinery]]
[[de:Balkenmäher]]