114 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



MACHINES FOR FELLING TREES. 



Two machines, the separate inventions of Messrs. Ingersoll and Ehrsara, 

 arc now before the public. IngersoH's machine weighs one hundred and 

 fifty pounds. The cutting tool is a straight horizontal saw, projecting out- 

 side of the frame. By turning a crank, an alternate motion is given to the 

 saw, and it is pressed against the wood ty a spring, which has to be wound 

 up from time to time. The machine is placed on the ground on the side of 

 the tree opposite to that on which it has a tendency to fall. The crank is 

 then turned, and, after the entire breadth of the saw is in the wood, a wedge 

 is placed behind in the cut to prevent closing when the tree does not lean on 

 the opposite side. The machine being placed on its side, and spur-wheels 

 being substituted for the bevel wheels which are between the crank and the 

 saw, it is transformed into a machine for sawing logs. Horse power may 

 then be applied to it. Ehrsam's machine is all metal. There is a large 

 ring in two half circles, hinged at one end and keyed at the other, which is 

 placed around the tree and firmly held against it by a few long screws. In- 

 side this ring is another, which, by means of a crown wheel cut in it, and of 

 a pinion, is made to revolve. This second ring carries a gouge or a chisel, 

 extending inside to the tree and advancing to the core when the turning 

 proceeds. A groove is thus cut around the tree, and it is alleged by persons 

 who have experimented with the machine, that the wood will not close on 

 the tool as long as six inches remain uncut. At this stage of the operation 

 the machine is taken away, and the remainder is cut with a hand-saw. It is 

 absolutely necessary with this machine to finish the work by hand ; for the 



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tool going around, wedges cannot be placed in the groove to prevent its 

 closing ; and if this was obviated by sustaining the tree from the outside, it 

 would break the machine, whatever way it should fall. 



CORN HUSKING MACHINES. 



John Tuggert and L. A. Grover, of Roxbury, Mass., have patented, and 

 are introducing a machine which, at a moderate cost, seems well designed to 

 strip the husks from Indian corn very rapidly and effectually. The husks 

 are loosened by sawing off the butt of the cob, so close as to graze and per- 

 haps nearly destroy the first row of the grain, and the loose husks are then 

 readily removed by teeth projecting up through a grate on which the ears 

 fill. The ears in their natural state are seized and carried through very 

 rapidly and quietly ; and the power for the whole is supplied by the foot of 

 the operator. 



Another machine, more effectual and ingenious than the above, has also 

 been recently invented by Dr. E. S. Holmes, of Lockport, N. Y. A proper 

 description cannot, however be given of it, without diagrams. It operates 

 not only on the ears broken from the stalks, but also, by attachment to the 

 side of a wagon, it can be made to both pick, husk and place in a receptacle 

 the ears from the stalk standing in the field. 



