302 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



lu the commencement of the season, I provided myself with 

 a new set of fingers upon the knife-bar, so constructed that each 

 finger was riveted upon the bar on both sides. This /arrange- 

 ment, after several trials, proved to interfere with the working 

 of the knives, and I was obliged to have the fingers cut off, so 

 as to have an open space on the lower side of the bar. This 

 remedied the evil ; and as the fingers were well constructed, of 

 good material, and good shape, I had no further trouble with 

 them, even on rough and stony land. 



The machine has answered all the purposes for which I pur- 

 chased it. I experienced no difficulty in its operation, even 

 where the grass was very heavy, and badly lodged, as was the 

 case to a great degree in the abundant crop of the last season. 

 No unevenness of land seemed to impede its j^rogress. I had 

 the stones carefully removed . in the spring, and all ordinary 

 unevenness, such as furrows and shallow ditches, did not inter- 

 fere with the working of the machine. 



The ground upon which my machine was operated, furnished 

 a very severe test of its power. Most part of it is clayey, 

 heavy soil, very wet in wet seasons and stiff and rougli in dry 

 ones. No special care has been taken in laying it down. And 

 I am confident that no machine but the strongest, could endure 

 the wear and tear to which it is subjected on such a surface. 



No difficulty has been experienced in the varieties of grass 

 which I have cut. The heaviest and the lightest have fallen 

 equally well, and no trouble has been met in turning the corners 

 or in driving the machine so as to avoid clogging. 



The experience of this season has convinced me that on ordi- 

 nary rougli New England farms, the Ketclmm machine works 

 almost to perfection. I do not mean to say it has no equal, for 

 I have not experience to warrant such a statement. But in all 

 varieties of work, light grass and heavy, lodged clover and 

 upright Timothy, rough land and smooth, I find that I can rely 

 on its operation, without particular effort to secure for it any 

 advantages. Its draught is no trouble to such horses as a 

 farmer ought to own. And it does its work without any extra 

 and ingenious appliances. 



Of the economy of mowing machines, it seems to me there 

 can be no question. I have found that the machine operated on 

 the Pickmau farm, would cut grass enough in four or five hours 



