Threshing stone
Encyclopedia
A threshing stone is a roller
-like tool used for the threshing
of wheat
. Similar to the use of threshing boards
, the stone was pulled by horses over a circular pile of harvested wheat on a hardened dirt surface (threshing floor
), and the rolling stone knocked the grain from the head of wheat. The straw
was removed from the pile and the remaining grain and chaff
was collected. By a process called winnowing, the grain was tossed into the air to allow the chaff and dirt to be blown away, leaving only the grain.
era, but eventually it became the method of threshing grain by the Molotschna
Mennonite
farmers in the Ukraine
from about 1840 to 1900. The threshing stone became the preferred method used to knock the grain from the head because it was less labor intensive than the use of the traditional threshing flail
.
In the 1870s, approximately one-third of all Russian Mennonites immigrated to the Great Plains
of North America. The immigrants in central Kansas
immigrants brought the threshing stone technology with them, and contracted stone masons in the Florence, Kansas
area to construct stones made of limestone
.
The use of threshing stones quickly faded as they were superseded by mechanized forms of threshing, especially by threshing machine
s, and eventually all farmers quit using them by around 1900 to 1905.
were approximately 29 to 30 inches long, 23 to 24 inches in diameter, with 7 notches (and rarely 8) resembling gear
teeth, made of limestone
, and 600 to 800 pounds in weight. Some smaller stones may weigh less than 400 pounds.
are located at private residences as family historic artifacts. The following is a list of locations where threshing stones may be viewed by the public.
Museums:
Various:
in North Newton, Kansas
and named after the threshing stone.
Photos:
Roller (agricultural tool)
The roller is an agricultural tool used for flattening land or breaking up large clumps of soil, especially after ploughing. Typically, rollers are pulled by tractors or, prior to mechanisation, a team of animals such as horses or oxen....
-like tool used for the threshing
Threshing
Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain...
of wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
. Similar to the use of threshing boards
Threshing-board
A threshing board is an obsolete farm implement used to separate cereals from their straw; that is, to thresh. It is a thick board, made with a variety of slats, with a shape between rectangular and trapezoidal, with the frontal part somewhat narrower and curved upward and whose bottom is covered...
, the stone was pulled by horses over a circular pile of harvested wheat on a hardened dirt surface (threshing floor
Threshing floor
A threshing floor is a specially flattened surface, usually circular and paved, where a farmer would thresh the grain harvest and then winnow it, before the advent of threshing machines from the nineteenth century onwards. The threshing floor was either owned by the entire village or by a single...
), and the rolling stone knocked the grain from the head of wheat. The straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
was removed from the pile and the remaining grain and chaff
Chaff
Chaff is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw...
was collected. By a process called winnowing, the grain was tossed into the air to allow the chaff and dirt to be blown away, leaving only the grain.
History
Evidence of the use of threshing stones in various forms date from the RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
era, but eventually it became the method of threshing grain by the Molotschna
Molotschna
Molotschna Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhia Oblast in Ukraine. Today is called Molochansk with a population of under 10,000. The settlement is named after the Molochna River which forms its western boundary. Today the land mostly falls within the Tokmatskyi and...
Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
farmers in the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
from about 1840 to 1900. The threshing stone became the preferred method used to knock the grain from the head because it was less labor intensive than the use of the traditional threshing flail
Flail
A flail is an agricultural implement for threshing.Several tools operate similarly to the agricultural implement and are also called flails:...
.
In the 1870s, approximately one-third of all Russian Mennonites immigrated to the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
of North America. The immigrants in central Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
immigrants brought the threshing stone technology with them, and contracted stone masons in the Florence, Kansas
Florence, Kansas
Florence is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. The city was named after the daughter of former Kansas Governor Samuel J. Crawford. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 465.-19th century:...
area to construct stones made of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
.
The use of threshing stones quickly faded as they were superseded by mechanized forms of threshing, especially by threshing machine
Threshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
s, and eventually all farmers quit using them by around 1900 to 1905.
Physical description
The threshing stone is a cylindrical stone with teeth carved into it. Stones made in KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
were approximately 29 to 30 inches long, 23 to 24 inches in diameter, with 7 notches (and rarely 8) resembling gear
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
teeth, made of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, and 600 to 800 pounds in weight. Some smaller stones may weigh less than 400 pounds.
Locations
In 2011, over 90 threshing stones have been located. Numerous stones in KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
are located at private residences as family historic artifacts. The following is a list of locations where threshing stones may be viewed by the public.
Museums:
- 3 at Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum in Goessel, KansasGoessel, KansasGoessel is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. It was named after Captain Kurt von Goessel who went down with his ship, the Elbe, in the English Channel after it was rammed. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 539....
. - 3 at Mennonite Settlement Museum in Hillsboro, KansasHillsboro, KansasHillsboro is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. Hillsboro was named after John Gillespie Hill, who homesteaded in the area in 1871. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,993. Hillsboro is home of Tabor College, which has approximately 550 students.-19th century:For...
. - 2 at Kauffman Museum at Bethel CollegeBethel College (Kansas)Bethel College is a private college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. The college is located on the edge of the Flint Hills and the vast wheat fields of south central Kansas in the town of North Newton...
in North Newton, KansasNorth Newton, KansasNorth Newton is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,759. The city of Newton is located next to the city, but it not part of North Newton. North Newton is home of Bethel College, which has approximately 500 students.-Geography:North...
. - 2 at Inman Museum in Inman, KansasInman, KansasInman is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,377.- History :It was founded in 1887 as Aiken. It was renamed Inman, in 1889, after Inman Lake which is located approximately east of the town...
. - 2 at Mennonite Heritage VillageMennonite Heritage VillageMennonite Heritage Village is a museum in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada. It is a major tourist attraction in the area, as thousands of visitors visit it each year...
in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada. - 1 at Halstead Heritage Museum in Halstead, KansasHalstead, KansasHalstead is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. Halstead was named in honor of Murat Halstead, a respected Civil War correspondent and newspaper editor. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,085.-History:...
. - 1 at McPherson Museum in McPherson, KansasMcPherson, KansasMcPherson is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States, in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,155. The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general...
. - 1 at Kansas Museum of HistoryKansas Museum of HistoryThe Kansas Museum of History in Topeka, Kansas, USA, is the state history museum. It presents Kansas history from the prehistoric to modern eras in of exhibits. The galleries feature a train , full-sized tipi in the Southern Cheyenne style, a 1950s diner, and many other large features...
in Topeka, Kansas. - 1 at American Historical Society of Germans from Russia in Lincoln, NebraskaLincoln, NebraskaThe City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
.
Various:
- 4 at Buhler High School in Buhler, KansasBuhler, KansasBuhler is a city in Reno County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,327.-Geography:Buhler is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,358...
. - 2 at Bethel CollegeBethel College (Kansas)Bethel College is a private college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. The college is located on the edge of the Flint Hills and the vast wheat fields of south central Kansas in the town of North Newton...
in North Newton, Kansas. Administration Building and Bookstore. - 1 at Alexanderwohl Mennonite ChurchAlexanderwohl Mennonite ChurchThe Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church of Goessel, Kansas is a congregation affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA. The congregation has a continuous history dating from 16th century Europe.-Background:...
near Goessel, Kansas. - 1 in Mennonite Centennial Memorial Monument in Peabody, KansasPeabody, KansasPeabody is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. It is named after F.H. Peabody, of Boston, former vice-president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Peabody is well known in the region for its Independence Day Celebration on July 4, and its historic 1880's downtown main street...
.
Other uses
The Thresher is the official mascot of Bethel CollegeBethel College (Kansas)
Bethel College is a private college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. The college is located on the edge of the Flint Hills and the vast wheat fields of south central Kansas in the town of North Newton...
in North Newton, Kansas
North Newton, Kansas
North Newton is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,759. The city of Newton is located next to the city, but it not part of North Newton. North Newton is home of Bethel College, which has approximately 500 students.-Geography:North...
and named after the threshing stone.
External links
History:- Threshing Stone History, ThreshingStone.com
- Researching Threshing Stones, Kauffman Museum
- Bethel College Thresher, Bethel College
Photos:
- Threshing Stone photos, ThreshingStone.com
- Threshing Stone History in Inman, Kansas