Today in 1896, US Patent 566173 A was issued, an invention of Sylvanus Hemingway, for his “Hop Picking Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

My invention relates to hop-picking machines, and has for its object to provide a machine which will perform the work which has heretofore been done, to a large extent, by hand-picking.

My improved hop-picking machine has a capacity for work which makes it possible for a large harvest of hops to be picked and prepared for market in a comparatively short space of time, thereby Overcoming one of the difficulties experienced by hop-growers, who, on account of the comparatively short season for picking the hops and the scarcity of help, are frequently put to serious inconvenience in the preparation of the product for the market.

In carrying out my invention I have borne in mind the necessity of providing a machine which would strip the hops from the vines without’ crushing the flowers but which would It will be observed also that my invention as embodied in the machine presented in the present application will thoroughly clean the hops after they have beer stripped from the vines, separating the leaves which may have been torn from the vines from the hop-blossoms, which latter will be deposited in suitable receptacles, while the refuse will be deposited at either end of the machine.