Picture 1 of 5

An Illustrated History of Combine Harvesters by Jim Wilkie (Hardcover, 2001)

Shakespeare's Steam Rally (6090)

100% positive Feedback

Price:

£8.99

+ £4.00 postage

Estimated delivery Tue, 1 Jul - Mon, 7 Jul

Returns:

30 days return. Buyer pays for return postage. If you use an eBay delivery label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.

Condition:

New

By Jim Wilkie 2001. An Illustrated History of Combine Harvester. Hard back 128 pages with Black & White Pictures and two Colour Pictures on the front & rear of the dust jacket. ISBN 0-7110-2770-6.

About this product

Product Information

Of all the activities undertaken by farmers, there are few more labour-intensive than harvesting. From the middle of the 19th century onwards, as the cost of labour increased and as there was a gradual drift of population away from the land to the cities, there was an increasing trend towards mechanisation of the harvesting of cereal crops in particular. Without the development of mechanical harvesters it is doubtful whether it would have proved practical or economic to open up the vast Mid-West corn belt in the USA, for example, and, without the vast increase in cereal production during the last years of the 19th century, industrialisation and population growth would have been impractical. The earliest mechanical harvesters make some of Heath Robinson's inventions appear sensible, but over the past century technology has been refined so that today's combine harvesters can strip vast acreages in a relatively short time. In his second book for Ian Allan Publishing, noted expert Jim Wilkie portrays the development of the combine harvester and its antecedents from the earliest days of mechanisation to the modern age. Drawing upon a superb selection of some 250 mono illustrations, the book is a fascinating account of the development of the combine harvester over the past century. Comprehensive in its coverage, the book is an excellent companion to the author's acclaimed volume An Illustrated History of Tractors.