What is it? It's a Silage Cutter
This is a silage cutter from the old days. Looks like hard work - no wonder my father hated farm work. We aren't using these any more and now we sell them in our Antique business. This one is from the 1890s+ and is worth about $40 - $100. Lots of people decorate with primitives this days and this item is unusual.
What is Silage you may ask? Silage is fodder (hay or straw) harvested while green and kept succulent by partial fermentation as in a silo. Cows love it. For good silage you must cut the silage which is long (4-10 inches) to preserve the nutrient content. Corn rice and hay can all be made into silage. These are the types of items we sell at Holly Hill Antiques. If you need one of these send us an email and we will see if we can help.
Today they have all kind of machines to do this. See below.
Back in the old days everybody raised pigs. You could send them out to be butchered or you could do it yourself. After the pig was killed and the blood saved (all parts of the pig were used in something) you would haul the pig to a tub of hot (150-160 F) water and brush the pigs hair with a long-handled brush to agitate the bristles while the pig is in the hot water. After 5 minutes or so, you would haul the pig out onto the table and scrape the bristles hard and furiously with your scraping tools shown above. If the bristles do not come off easily with your scaper you would have to dip the pig again. NOw these items are used for decorations and this one is a nice primitive. The one pictured was found a small farm auction in PA. These are the types of items we sell at Holly Hill Anriiques. If you need one of these send us an email or call 804-695-1146 and we will see if we can help.
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