††††Threshing is the process of separating wheat or other cereal grains from the plant. During the Middle Ages, threshing was carried out by hand in the winter months using a flail, a jointed beating stick.
In 1788, Andrew Meikle of Scotland invented the first threshing machine. It consisted of a drum with four iron beater bars on its surface. The drum sat in an iron concave and was turned by a water wheel.
The cereal plants were fed, seed heads first, between two iron rollers which held them in place while the four beater bars hit the seed heads to separate the grain.
