SECRETARY'S REPORT. 81 



Mr. Barrett's man cut 336 square feet the minute. 

 Mr. Hovey's " 

 Mr. Davis's 

 Mr. Bigelow's " 



The four cut, . . . 1,096 



Average, 274 each man the minute. 



" One machine cutting a fraction less than four and ninety one-hun- 

 dredths times more than one man in the same time. The gentlemen 

 competitors all concurred in the opinion that they could mow with 

 their machines nine acres in a day, following it day after day. This, 

 divided by four and ninety one-hundredths, would make a fraction 

 more than one and eighty-three one-hundredths acres for a day's 

 work for one man, which is probably no more than the average of men 

 would accomplish in one day. 



" The machines cut the grass quite as well as it would be done in 

 general by men with a scythe. They leave the grass better spread 

 for curing than it could be done with a fork by hand labor, saving 

 the time of one man, which it would take to spread the swaths after 

 the four and ninety one-hundredths mowers. Thus it appears by 

 these trials that a machine will perform the labor of four and ninety 

 one-hundredths men in mowing, and save the labor of one man 

 spreading swaths, costing daily with horses and driver about $4.50, 

 while the five and ninety one-hundredths men would cost about $9 00. 

 Mr. Barrett managed his horses best, having cut his swath within 

 twenty-nine one-hundredths of a foot of the whole length of his 

 cutter-bar. The extra length of his bar, and the good management of 

 his horses, enabled him to cut his half acre in less time than either of 

 the other competitors. Mr. Emerson stands next to Mr. Barrett in 

 good driving, cutting his swath within forty-six one-hundredths of a 

 foot of the whole length of his cutter-bar, Mr. Davis and Mr. Bige- 

 low cut their swaths within fifty-four one-hundredths of a foot of the 

 whole length of their bars, and Mr. Hovey cut his swath within 

 seventy-eight one-hundredths of a foot of the whole length of his 

 bar. If Mr. Hovey's horses had been accustomed to working together, 

 he would probably have cut as wide as Mr. Bigelow, or Mr. Davis." 



John Brooks, Chairman. 



