Just a bit more history here. Both the reaper & the binder were used to bundle grain with the stalks intact. Sometimes they were carried to the barn as Sta said while at other times they were stacked upright in the field. Many old-time threshings were done directly n the field. The thresher would be brought in & set up & the sheaves of grain hauled up to the thresher where they were pitched into the feeder.
The difference in a reaper & a binder was the binder had the knotter for tying the bundles. n a reaper the grain was either pulled to the end with a rake or had a pusher for the purpose. It was then hand-tied into the bundle & several bundles stacked into the sheaf.
When I was very young my Dad still had an old McCormick-Deering binder. I have n idea what became of it but think he sold it at some point. I recall being at one old-time threshing which was set up in the field. My Dad & his younger brother were working there helping load the sheaves o the wagons to haul up to the thresher & I went with them. I don't recall the exact point in time, but I had to be less than 8 yrs old.
Incidentally, in spite of your history books, Cyrus McCormick did "NOT" invent the reaper. He invented A reaper, but not "The" reaper. He in fact had to wait 13 years after his reaper was ready for another man's patent to expire before he could place his on the market.
