Birdsell Clover Huller

Until the mid-18th century, this work was done by hand and by animal power, requiring a tremendous amount of manual labor for a relatively small reward.

Clover was becoming a major cash crop throughout the burgeoning midwest, since its seeds could be used as an animal feed and nutrient for soil.

Birdsell believed his machine, which combined the threshing, hulling, and cleaning actions into one process, could reduce the time and energy needed, and therefore increasing the amount of seed a farmer could produce.

John C. Birdsell continued to perfect his clover huller, and by 1857 he won first prize at the New York State Fair in Buffalo.

YouTube clip shows a Birdsell Clover Huller in an unidentified museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJLPWL3wDoM