Information taken from Second Souvenirs, By Francis C. Waid, 1890, pp. 15-17 STEAM THRESHER. While on the subject of farm life I would like to say a few words on the subject of improvements which have been made within the past three decades in agricultural implements generally, threshing machines in particular. As years roll by I am reminded not only of the mutability of all things mundane, but also of the reforms and improvements ever going on in mechanical appliances, particularly in the implements of the farm. I cannot help, from time to time, contrasting the early days of my life with the present. More than thirty years ago (about 1855), when my brother Lyman (Robert Lyman WAID) and I (Francis C. WAID) used to thresh with a two or three horse-power machine, and leave the grain in the chaff, we thought we were doing a good business to thresh on an average from 150 to 200 bushels per day. In 1887 my two eldest sons, Frank and Guinnip, operated a steam thresher with an eight-horse-power engine manufactured for Waid & Bro., at Mansfield, Ohio, by Aultman & Taylor, and which they claim will thresh 1,000 bushels per day. No thresher except a separator is used here nowadays. Michael Roudebush and Ira C. Waid bought of Ezra Cooper August 17, 1847, a two-horse-power machine, and on the following day my brother, Lyman, and David Pitcher (I think), threshed seventy-three bushels of wheat for Mr. Ray, who lived in Meadville. We threshed in those days for several parties in Meadville, among them being John Reynolds and Squire Arthur Cullon, and soon after the fall of 1847 I followed the business along with my brother. The above-mentioned machine, which was second-hand at the time of purchase, was bought for $55, and was owned by the above-named parties till 1850. At that time our lay for threshing was six of wheat on a hundred, ten of oats. The steam thresher we now have is new, and much in advance of the Cooper machine of forty years ago, while it does four or five times the amount of threshing in a day, besides cleaning the grain. This steam separator costs about $1,400, and threshes for five bushels on a hundred wheat or oats. Our boys did their first regular threshing with their new steam thresher for Lewis Slocum, Guinnip's father-in-law, and on August 22, 1887, they threshed for our near neighbor, Gaylord Smith, 746 bushels of oats--402 in the forenoon and 344 in the afternoon--finishing by about 4 P. M. I am of the opinion that under favorable circumstances they could thresh from 800 to 1,000 bushels per day? Fred and I helped Mr. Smith thresh, so I had the pleasure of working with all my boys. I may add that they have frequently threshed one hundred bushels of oats in less than an hour, and in the fall of 1887 they threshed 27,000 bushels; in 1888, 42,000 bushels, and in 1889, 35,000 bushels.(*On August 17, 1888, they threshtd 1,026 bushels for Mr. Smith.} The enterprise of the boys pleases me more than the improvements in machinery, yet I acknowledge I am satisfied with both. It takes not only works but also faith to bear us down the stream of Time, to see where our children take up the active duties of life to our satisfaction. I rejoice there is such a thing as patience; it is a crowning virtue. I waited patiently for the Lord, and he heard me. After we have done all we can, how good it is to commit our ways unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass. A MONARCH OF THE FOREST. In the spring of 1847 James Wygant bought of my uncle, A. G. Waid (Andrew Gilbert), the house and lot in Blooming Valley, where his widow now lives. My acquaintance with Mr. Wygant dates back a little over forty years. My uncle, A. G. Waid, moved, in the spring of 1847, to Dexter, Mich., where he is still living. I received a letter from him, dated May 4, 1887; his wife died May 19, 1884. The rise of ground, where my uncle at that time lived, was known as Tar Hill (in those days tar was manufactured here in a limited way), and I am informed a tavern was kept here, or near by, in an early day, by one Seth Nicholas. In those times a good part of what is now the borough of Blooming Valley was a pine forest. On the Jeremiah Smith Farm, which now constitutes the principal part of the borough, there was much pine; also on the farms of John Dickson and William Morehead. It is said, on very good authority, that there was a pine tree on Michael Coy's land which cut 144 feet, making twelve logs, each measuring twelve feet in length. More to follow, David