SECRETARY'S REPORT. 181 



redtop mixed, some of which was lodged. Portions of the lot were 

 rolling, and the surface generally quite as far from level as our ordi- 

 nary grass fields, so that upon the whole, it was an excellent lot to 

 test the machines. 



They were also tried on a meadow bottom which had never been 

 ploughed, where various wild grasses, both coarse and fine, were 

 intermixed. 



The trial, you will thus perceive, was a thorough one, and by it we 

 were able to form a satisfactory judgment of the merits of the diS'er- 

 ent machines. The remaining machines, and between which we were 

 to judge, were patented or known as Ketchum's, Manny's, Heath's 

 and the Allen machine, entered by R. L. Allen. The owners of the 

 Ketchum machine allege that Mr. Allen has infringed upon their 

 patent, and has no right to build or sell his machine except within 

 the limits prescribed in a license procured from them, and that Massa- 

 chusetts is not within those limits. However that may be, is of no 

 consequence so far as our report is concerned, for we did not regard 

 the consideration of that question as within our province, and it there- 

 fore had no weight with us. The Ketchum machine, entered by 

 Nourse, Mason & Co., has probably been in use longer in this State 

 and is more generally known than either of the others. The one which 

 they entered for premium diff'ers from those which have been built by 

 them in years past, in having a driving wheel of comparatively small 

 size, wrought iron substituted for castings wherever it was deemed 

 practicable, and every thing about the machine so made as to reduce 

 weight. In this they have succeeded, their machine with pole and 

 whiffletrees attached weighing only about 460 pounds. The price of 

 the machine has also been reduced from $100 or upwards, to $75. 

 We think that in this, they have made no mistake, but that the reduc- 

 tion in weight is a great mistake. The diff"erence in the amount of 

 draft required to operate a machine of 400 pounds weight and another 

 of 700 pounds weight, other things being equal, would probably be 

 almost imperceptible, except by very accurate dynamical tests ; and 

 may it not be that the difference would then be found to be in favor 

 of the heavier machine ? Without entering into any speculation upon 

 the matter, we think that it was a fact apparent to every careful 

 observer that this light Ketchum machine actually required more 

 power of draft when in operation than either of the four, and that the 

 one which required the least power of draft was almost twice as 

 heavy. So light, indeed, was it, that with the weight of the driver 

 superadded, and driven at a rate of speed sufficient to cut the grass 

 well, — which, by the way, is a little higher than that required by the 



