Show intricate invention used in harvesting wild rice poplar wis increased demand for wild rice as food for wild fowl led emmett curtis to invent a harvesting machine that looks like a cross between an egyptian water wheel and a venetian gondola the machine works on the principle of a grain binder A motor driven paddle at the stern provides locomotion A large rotating reel on the prow catches the rice stocks protruding above the water and bends them against a smaller reel rotating in the opposite direction between these two wheels the grain Is beaten gently from the stalk curtis claims the machine will pick about 1000 pounds of ripe rice ain n a day |