This Hero corn grader was made by the Twin City Separator Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A farmer would have used this grader to better obtain the best quality corn seeds for the next year's crop. As the Twin City Separator Company summed it up in a 1916 pamphlet, "There are two very important requirements of a corn grader; first, to sort out the best types so as to avoid planting kernels which would germinate poorly, and produce weak, unproductive plants; and second, to have only the flat, uniform, perfect kernels to use in the corn planter."
If a farmer wished to plant a consistent and healthy corn crop, he or she needed to make sure the corn seeds were the same size and shape. If kernels that were too large or too round were placed into the corn planter's seed boxes, they may not pass through the planter's holes and they may clog the planter's holes or cause other problems during planting. If broken or misshapen kernels were placed into the planter's seed boxes, they might pass through the planter's holes but they may not grow or they may produce small or misshapen ears. By using a grader, farmers increased their odds of planting healthy corn seeds without serious issues.
In order to use this grader, a farmer dumped the ungraded seeds into the hopper at the top of this machine, and turned the crank on the machine's side. As the farmer turned the crank, the drums or cylinders inside also turned. The corn kernels would fall into the top drum where the smallest kernels and broken kernels would fall through the holes in the drum, dropping into a basket beside the grader. The kernels that did not fall through the holes would move down into the lower drum where the larger or rounder seeds were separated and dropped into a basket. Eventually, the ideal kernels were left for the farmer to use in his corn planter when planting season arrived.
In 1911, the Hero corn grader cost $11.00.
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| Hero Corn Grader ad from the January 11, 1911 Breeder's Gazette. |
If you would like to see an 8-page illustrated pamphlet for the Hero Corn Grader, published in 1916, click or touch here. This digital image is provided by the James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library at the Hennepin County Library on the Minnesota Digital Library's website.
I recently picked up an interesting Twin Cities Separator Co. salesman's demonstration wagon. It is setup with the separator at the rear of the wagon (made to look like a covered wagon, complete with the white canvas with "Twin City Separator Co. Minneapolis, Minnesota" painted on the side. Reportedly, it was owned by a granddaughter of a Twin City employee (salesman?). Would love to post photos....very interesting!
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