126 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



adding to the general information sought for by the trustees 

 upon this subject. The return of the Hon. Josiah Quincy 

 came too late to entitle him to claim the premium ; but it is 

 recorded with the rest as a valuable addition to the knowledge 

 sought for by the committee, as also his remarks, a portion of 

 which will be found in the Appendix. 



It was originally proposed that the labor of supervising the 

 work of the competitors should be divided among the members 

 of the committee. It was soon apparent, however, that this 

 method would not give them that knowledge of the compara- 

 tive merits of the competitors, which *was absolutely necessary 

 in the final award of the premium. It was therefore arranged 

 that one member should visit each competitor and examine his 

 work, thus creating one general standard by which the whole 

 should be judged. Mr. Lincoln undertook this extremely labo- 

 rious task, and the report of his observations is herewith sub- 

 mitted for your examination. 



Much good, although some misapprehension, has arisen from 

 County Societies having appointed public trials of mowing 

 machines, connecting them with this premium offered by the 

 trustees of this Society. This has been caused, in part, by the 

 fact of the premium offered for the best motving' machine to be 

 awarded in 1856, and partly from the great interest which has 

 sprung up among the farmers in relation to the subject. These 

 trials, although interesting and instructive in themselves, have 

 had no weight or influence in making up their award. The 

 committee have directed their attention singly to the work done, 

 and to the skill and economy with which it has been accom- 

 plished. They are fortunately relieved from passing any judg- 

 ment upon the comparative merits of any particular patent or 

 the work of any manufacturer at this time, because they have 

 seen no machine as yet, which, in their opinion, is not capable of 

 very great improvement ; and they feel confident that by the 

 coming year, we shall see many modifications which will add to 

 the efficiency of the instrument, and (the committee hope) 

 much better workmanship than has thus far been exhibited by 

 the makers. The field is still open for the patentees and manu- 

 facturers, and every effort will be made that a fair trial shall be 

 had to determine whose machine is the best, as there has been 



