16 MOWER France (where her father, Samuel 0. Ogden, a merchant of New York, was then established in business), in 1819, died in England, July 28, 1870. She was the 10th of a family of 17 chil- dren. Her early childhood was passed in a chateau in the neighborhood of Bordeaux, in the private theatre of which she frequently par- ticipated in juvenile dramatic performances. When she was about six years of age the family returned to New York. While at school she attracted the attention of James Mowatt, a law- yer of New York, with whom she made a run- away match in her 15th year. During the first two years of her married life she published two poems, " Pelayo, or the Cavern of Cova- donga" (1836), an epic in five cantos, and "The Reviewers Reviewed" (1837), a satire against the critics of the former poem. Her health failing, she made a visit of a year and a half to Europe, during which she wrote for private performance a play entitled " Gulzara, or the Persian Slave" (1840). After her re- turn she gave a series of public dramatic read- ings in Boston, Providence, New York, and other cities. Her exertions produced a serious illness, and for two years she was 1 a confirmed invalid, during which time she contributed to the magazines under the pseudonyme of Helen Berkley. In 1842 she published ' ' The Fortune Hunter," a novel ; in 1845 a five-act comedy entitled "Fashion," which was played at the Park theatre, New York, with considerable success ; and in 1847 another drama entitled " Armand, or the Peer and the Peasant," which was represented at the Park theatre in 1848. On June 13, 1845, she made her public d6but at this theatre as Pauline in the "Lady of Lyons," and thenceforth for many years was a popular actress. In 1847 she made an ex- tended professional visit to England, where in 1851 her husband died ; and in 1854 she played a series of farewell engagements in the United States and left the stage. She was married on June 7 of that year to W. F. Ritchie, editor of the Richmond "Enquirer." Her later works are: "The Autobiography of an Actress" (1854); "Mimic Life" (1855); "The Twin Roses " (1857) ; "Fairy Fingers "(1865); "The Mute Singer " (1866) ; and " The Clergyman's Wife and other Sketches" (1867). She pub- lished also several compilations. MOWER, a S. E. county of Minnesota, border- ing on Iowa, and watered by several streams ; area, 720 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 10,447. It has an undulating surface, consisting mostly of prairies, and the soil is fertile. It is traversed by the Milwaukee and St. Paul and the South- ern Minnesota railroads. The chief produc- tions in 1870 were 673,017 bushels of wheat, 118,771 of Indian corn, 463,085 of oats, 39,975 of barley, 63,244 of potatoes, 7,670 Ibs. of wool, 295,896 of butter, 44,470 of flax, and 18,151 tons of hay. There were 2,821 horses, 3,073 milch cows, 4,543 other cattle, 1,945 sheep, and 2,973 swine; 3 carriage factories, and 3 flour mills. Capital, Austin. MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES, mechan- ical devices for cutting grain or grass by animal power. Though this invention was suggested by the ancient Romans, the first experiments toward practical results were made in Europe in the latter part of the 18th and early part of the present century. The first machines, how- ever, which attained to much efficiency were made in the United States between 1830 and 1850. The first reaping machine on record was described about A. D. 60 by Pliny, who says that it was used on the plains of Rhaetia. It had the form of a cart with a comb-like bar in front, which stripped off the ears of wheat and delivered them into a box, the straw being allowed to stand. It was propelled by an ox that walked behind the machine. A similar implement is now in use for gathering clover seed, called a header. The forerunner of the present form of machines, in which the gather- ers or cutters were given increased velocity, was one constructed by Pitt in 1786, in which a cylinder armed with combs plucked off the ears and discharged them into a box. For some time after this the cutters were made upon the rotary principle, the motive power being, as ever since, the bearing wheels. In 1822 a reciprocating or to and fro motion was given to the cutters. Nearly all the inventors attached the power behind, only four previous to 1823 placing it in front. In 1806 Gladstone of England patented a front-draft side-cut ma- chine having a revolving knife. A bar with fingers gathered the standing grain and held it to the knife. Ogle in 1822 made the first re- ciprocating knife, which was also attached to a forward-draft machine. He used 'a reel to gather the grain to the cutter, and also a plat- form which was tilted to drop it in portions. Bell's machine (1826) had a reel and a travel- ling apron which carried off the grain to one side. The names of Adams of New York, Ten Eyck of New Jersey, and Lane of Maine are among the earliest connected with the inven- tion of harvesters in the United States. In 1833 Obed Hussey, then of Cincinnati, 0., patented a machine to which he applied saw- toothed cutters and guards. This machine was at once put into practical operation. On July 12, 1837, a public exhibition of its operation, under the direction of the board of trustees of the Maryland agricultural society for the east- ern shore of Maryland, gave great satisfaction. During the same season this machine cut in a satisfactory manner 180 acres of oats and bar- ley on a farm in Maryland. The open-topped slotted finger was patented by Hussey in 1847. In 1834 Cyrus McCormick of Virginia patented a reaper, which, having been improved in 1845 and again in 1847, received a medal at the world's fair in London in 1851. It had a sickle-edged sectional knife, reciprocating by crank movement with the bearing and drive wheels ; there was a reel, and a divider was used on each end of the platform. The reaper had a seat behind the platform. The names
