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附录

Chaffcutter

Chaffcutter—amechanicaldeviceforcuttingstraworhayintosmallpieces—

horses.Horseswereextensivelyusedinfarmingoperationsuntiltheywerereplaced

bytractorsinthe1940s.

hay,andoatsintosmallpieces-beforebeingmixedtogetherwithotherforageand

fedtohorsesandcattle.Apartfrombeingmoreeconomicalthanpreviousmethodsof

feeding,thisaidedtheanimalsdigestionandpreventedanimalsfromrejectingany

partoftheirfood.Sincethechaffboxwasmadelargelyofwood(usuallyash)with

farms,townorcountrystableswerewithoutonebytheendoftheeighteenth

century.

Thereweretwosizes,oneofheavyconstructionwhichnormallyresidedinthe

darkenedcornersofbarnsorstablesandanothersmallermodelmadeofpineor

similarwoodwhichwasportable.

Thebarnversiontypicallycomprisedofanopen-ended,three-sidedwooden

troughbetween3foot6inchesand4feet(1067-1220mm)inlength,9to12inches

(229-305mm)wideand9to12inchesdeep,mountedoneitherthreeorfourlegs

approximately22inches(560mm)high-givinganoverallheightofabout34inches

forwardtofacilitatecutting.Bothfrontlegsofanearlythree-leggedformwere

distinctlybow-shaped.

Toadvancethebundleofhayorstrawalongthetroughonallbuttheearliest

models,ashort-handleddwarforchaffforkwithbetweenfourandsixtineswas

provided,attachedbychainstothefrontofthebox.Theseforksvariedinwidth

between230-250mm,dependingontheinsidedimensionsofthetrough.Thetines

wereabout120mmlong.

Thefrontendwasframedbyametalplatewhichloopedoverthetoptoprovide

ausefulliftinghandle.Belowthisalargeknifewashingeddiagonallytoasingleor

doublesidedarmwhichextendedpivotallyfromthebaseofonefrontlegandpassed

throughthehollowedcentreoftheoppositeleg.Thisallowedtheknifetobemoved

upand

towardsacrankedwoode