No. 112. 1 9 ,^ 



as to satisfy, it is believed, every competitor at the time of trial. 

 No effort was spared on the part of the judges, to arrive at reliable 

 and practical results in every case, and it cannot be doubted, that 

 a trial so thorough and minute in every important particular, has 

 never been had in this or any other country. 



The great and increasing variety of machines in our country, 

 evidences the urgent necessity that existed for a complete and 

 satisfactory trial ; and while it is not assumed that in every case, 

 the judgment passed upon the machines, may not in some respects 

 have failed to do complete justice to some one machine, still it is 

 believed, that the machines to which the awards were made, will 

 fully sustain the judgment of the committee, and will in the 

 hands of the farmer in the field, justify the aw,ards which were 

 made. 



The interest which this trial excited in the farming community, 

 was such as to bring together from all parts of our State, and 

 from adjoining States, a large number of farmers, who watched 

 with deep interest the trial of the machines, particularly the 

 reaping and mowing machines. The executive committee, in 

 undertaking this trial, were convinced, that while the trial itself 

 would prove of great benefit to the farmers of our State, by fur- 

 nishing to them machines upon which they could rely ; it would 

 also, in another point of view, prove of the highest importacce to 

 the mechanical ingenuity of our citizens, interested in the 

 machines in use, by stimulating them to improvements in their 

 machines, or in the preparation of new ones, developing more 

 perfectly the principles best adapted to the particular purpose 

 for which the machine was designed. This has already proved 

 true in reference to some of the machines exhibited — and new 

 ones are being built, as is alleged, with im])rovements suggested 

 by the trial which took place, by which the merits of the best 

 machines are secured, while it is claimed that the defects of each 

 are avoided. Whether this is so or not, the committee cannot 

 judge, or the public either, without a thorough trial, still it 

 shows, as the result of this trial, that the inventive genius of our 

 mechanics, has been put in requisition, and it cannot be ques- 

 tioned, that eventually great good will result to the farming 



