Both Daniel Massey and Alanson Harris were Canadians who had established suscessful farm implement companies in the mid 1800s. They merged in 1891 to form Massey-Harris. It would be 1917 however before the company would begin selling tractors. Their first attempt was a marketing agreement for the Bull tractor. This attempt ended in failure. In 1919, they formed another agreement, this time with the Parrett Tractor company of Chicago. Parrett went out of business in 1922. M-H's third attempt came in 1926 with the acquisition of J.I. Case Plow Works and the Wallis tractor line. The Wallis was a success and established M-H in the tractor business. In 1953, Massey-Harris merged with Ferguson to become Massey-Ferguson. The mid-sized Model 44 was introduced in 1946 and continued in production to 1955.