The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine (or simply thresher), was first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was devised (c. 1786) for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails, and was very laborious and time consuming, taking about one-quarter of agricultural labor by the 18th century.