SECRETARY'S REPORT. 71 



say nothing of having it done when the weather is good and the grass 

 in its proper state, whether in blossom or gone to seed, as the owner 

 prefers. The horses that we have used from the first weigh from ten 

 to eleven hundred each. We believe horses of the above weight the 

 best adapted to all farm work, and of course, best for mowing, cart- 

 ing, ploughing, &c. Were the team for mowing and nothing else, 

 we should have no objection to their weighing more than the above, 

 provided they were smart and active ; but a slow, logy team is not 

 the thing, for it needs prompt action to start off in good shape and 

 to work well. 



" We consider the draught not heavier than that of the common 

 plough. Were it used at the same time of the year, our opinion is 

 that the team would chafe and sweat quite as much. A man on his 

 own farm would have no occasion to work his team so as to injure it 

 in the least, for the reason that he could mow more in the first half 

 of the day than he could secure in the afternoon of the same, or the 

 next day, with the same team. The past season we have done our 

 mowing with one and the same pair of horses, working them from three 

 to seven hours per day. The usual practice is to mow in the morning, 

 two or three hours or more, as the case may be, and use the same 

 team in the afternoon to draw the hay to the barn, which is from one 

 to two miles distant. The speed required to work a machine to 

 advantage is about the same as that for a plough on stubble land, or 

 from two and one-half or three miles per hour. There is no objection 

 to quicker speed, however, in making good work. 



" The machines now made by Ruggles, Nourse, Mason & Co., one of 

 Avhich we have run the past season, are, with proper care on the part 

 of the driver, such as to satisfy any reasonable man as to the " wear 

 and tear " of the same ; for, in cutting two hundred acres of grass, the 

 expense for repairs on the machine was less than two dollars, or one 

 cent per acre, and this defect has since been remedied by the makers. 



" We have never used oxen, as we do our haying wholly with horses, 

 believing that they are more economical than oxen, since pasturing is 

 scarce and poor in our place, and it costs as much for hay and grain 

 for oxen as it does for horses, and more time. But we have been 

 acquainted with farmers that did use oxen to their satisfaction. 



" The construction of the machine is such that, in our opinion, any 

 man, with any practical knowledge of mechanics, would find no 

 trouble at all in using the machine ; but he must have some patience 

 and a large share of perseverance. We would suggest, however, to a 

 person beginning to work one, that he let it alone when the grass is 

 wet. Let him never begin for the first time, when this is the case, if 



