Threshing machine is a machine that farmers once used to thresh (separate) kernels of grain from stalks. The machine also winnowed (blew) the chaff from the kernels. Andrew Meikle of Scotland built the first practical water-powered threshing machine as early as 1788. Before then, farmers had threshed and winnowed by hand--a hard, slow task. Horse-powered threshing machines enabled farmers to process grain much faster than they could by hand. Since the 1930's, combines have replaced most threshing machines (see Combine).