SECRETARY'S REPORT, 135 



Salem, Aug. 21, 1858. 



My Dear Sir : — I desire to express to you the satisfaction I have 

 derived from the use of the Tedder imported by you for the Massa- 

 chusetts Society for Pi-omoting- Agriculture. It v/as sent to me 

 by Mr. Motley, after he had used it, a\d I only regret that I could 

 not obtain it sooner. The difficulties we have all met with in making 

 hay during the uncertain weather of this season, have given us 

 peculiar opportunities for testing the value of any machine intended 

 to facilitate the process of drying. And I was surprised to find 

 with how much greater ease I could overcome these difficulties 

 after I obtained the Tedder than before. With diligent use of the 

 machine, I found one good drying day sufficient. Hay, which 

 under the ordinary treatment would have been raked and cocked 

 as unfit to go to the barn until the next day, was thoroughly made 

 by applying the Tedder twice in the afternoon. And every farmer 

 knows the value of this in a season when every " next day" was 

 almost sure to rain. 



The machine works with great rapidity and ease in almost all 

 places. I tried it on rough land and smooth with equal success. 

 I used it on hay lying in swath and in windrow opened by the fo k, 

 and it worked equally well in both instances. I found that it would 

 thoroughly spread an acre of grass in fifteen minutes, without extra 

 exertion — and the work when done was really done as no man with 

 a fork could have done it, in any length of time. Not a particle of 

 the grass had escaped exposure to the sun and air. 



The construction of the machine is simple, strong, and entirely 

 appropriate to the work. I found it better in heavy grass to use 

 two horses, tandem, as the weight was rather more than I liked to 

 put upon one — although this was choice, and not necessity. It 

 required no repairs during my use of it. 



I can safely say, that I have found no labor-saving machine more 

 perfect. It enables us to make our hay easily, rapidly, and thor- 

 oughly, and makes us entirely independent of that kind of manual 

 labor which i-equires constant watching, especially in the process 

 of spreading and turning hay, and which is all that can be obtained 

 in these modern days. It seems to me almost indispensable on 

 large farms. After I obtained it, I set apart a field of about five 

 acres for experiment in machinery. It vv^as cut with the simple 

 and admirable grass-cutter, Danforth's patent, sent to me by Mr. 

 Thompson of Greenfield,— it was spread with the Tedder,— it was 

 raked with the horse-rake in common use— and was ready for the 



