AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS AND RURAL ECONOMY. 107 



of the straw to the cutters. A strong straight knife is attached to the lower cylinder, and a 

 strip of hide to the upper ; the two are geared together, and as they rotate, grasp the feed, 

 draw it forward and cut it off, cutting through from three to five inches of feed at each 

 revolution. 



Wick's and Simonton's Straw-Cutter. — The nature of the improvement consists in the 

 employment of a knife-cylinder operating in connection with a vibratory bed, whereby eco- 

 nomy of power and superior cutting action are obtained. 



The straw to be cut is placed in the feed-box, and a rotatory motion given by means of a 

 crank to the knife-cylinder. The knives, as they rotate, cut the straw which passes between 

 their edges and the under surface of a bed, which vibrates or moves forward by the pressure 

 of the knives as they bear against it while cutting through the straw — the bed returning 

 backwards as the knives pass it by the action of a spiral spring — the knives and bed, by their 

 operation, giving the proper feed-motion to the straw. 



The straw-cutter for which a premium was awarded at the recent exhibition of agricultural 

 implements by the Royal (English) Agricultural Society was possessed of the following pecu- 

 liarities : It feeds itself by means of tooth-rollers. The straw is kept compact by a lever and 

 weight underneath, which act on the mouth-piece and roller. Two convexly-curved knives, 

 attached to the arms of a fly-wheel that revolves perpendicularly to the feeding trough, per- 

 form the cutting, and it is adjustable to cut any needed length. 



Clinton's improved Straw-Cutter. — The following are the peculiarities of a new straw-cutter 

 recently patented by Lyman Clinton, of North Haven, Connecticut. One of the most common 

 arrangements for straw-cutters is the combination of a cylinder or arbor carrying lateral 

 knives, with another cylinder covered with hide, the straw being clipped by passing between 

 the knives and roller. Mr. Clinton has avoided the disadvantages of this method by a very 

 ingenious arrangement, which dispenses with the hide-roller altogether, and substitutes in its 

 place a second knife-cylinder. The knives are straight and mounted on narrow shoulders or 

 wings, and on the periphery of each wing, just behind each knife, there is a groove or rebate. 

 The arbors are so geared that the knife edges come together in the act of revolving, like a 

 pair of shears, and cut off the straw in the most perfect manner, as fast as it is fed in between 

 them. The edge of the rebate, behind each knife, serves as a fulcrum on which the ends of 

 the straw rest during the act of cutting. 



Squire's Straw-Cutter. — The peculiarities of this straw-cutter patented during the past year 

 by G. L. Squire, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, are as follows: — It has two shafts, one of which 

 receives a more rapid motion than the other ; upon one is placed circular or disc cutters, but 

 upon the other both circular cutters and finger-plates. These finger-plates act as follows : 

 The shafts of the knives have to be made long, so as to lay in the straw longitudinally with 

 the shafts, and the fingers whipping round draw down the straw to the action of the rotating 

 knives, which thus cut like circular shears ; the cutters can be set by nuts at any distance 

 apart, so as to cut fine and coarse, as may be desired. It cuts straw, cornstalks, &c, with 

 great rapidity, and the cutters can be sharpened with great facility. 



Bennet's Straw-Cutter. — A patent granted during the past year to J. H. Bennet, of Benning- 

 ton, Vermont, relates to the kind of straw-cutters employing a straight knife set in a lever, 

 and moving in the arc of a circle. The knife-stock is set in a vertical, oblong slot cut through 

 the main timber of the frame, and working on a pivot in the slot. By this arrangement the 

 knife is guided and kept steady while operating. There is a fiat spring arranged over the 

 front part of the oblong slot, and the knife is so bevelled, that when its lever is lowered, it 

 (the knife) bears upon the upper side of the flat spring, while the under side of the lever bears 

 upon its top, thereby keeping the cutting-knife close up to the steel guard, thus making it 

 cut in a superior manner. The said spring, in case of clogging, yields slightly, and its 

 reaction after a cut assists the operator in raising the lever which operates the knife. 



Teddying Machines. 



Evert farmer should own a teddying machine. This contrivance is arranged with a pair 

 of wheels like a sulky, and with long teeth extending from a false axle to within an inch of 



