172 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



The lot selected was a level plain of about ten acres, the sur- 

 face being somewhat uneven in many places. The soil was 

 light and poor, from long neglect. The crop was a thin one, 

 of May grass or Rhode Island redtop. It was such as would 

 have besn difficnlt to be mown by a scythe in a dry time. 



The first scene consisted of six machines put upon half-acre 

 lands, numbered from one to six. The time occupied was from 

 twenty to twenty-five minutes. 



Allen's machine had lot number one, and was the first to 

 complete the work. It is a simple machine of about five hun- 

 dred and twenty-five pounds weight. It seems to have been an 

 old one, considerably used, and somewhat out of repair. It 

 did not mow as closely as the other machines, although the bar 

 which held the knives appeared to run very near the surface. 

 Mr. Morton, the possessor, was not present, and the general 

 impression appeared to be that the machine had not enjoyed 

 quite a fair trial, even for a single field ; and it is clear that the 

 machine which may do best execution in one kind of grass, 

 may utterly fail, in comparison with others, in a field of a dif- 

 ferent kind. 



A subsequent trial of Allen's machine was witnessed by a 

 portion of the committee at the farm of Mr. A. D. Wel,d, in 

 West Roxbury, which gave much better satisfaction. One of 

 the proprietors was present, who understood its management, 

 and the work was performed as well as by any machine in the 

 list that has been exhibited to the committee. 



Russell's came next, and it was also the next in time. It is 

 a wood frame, (and rather heavy for wood, weighing about 

 seven hundred and eighty pounds,) with a wheel in addition to 

 the driving wheel, aflbrding the means of travelling without 

 cutting — an advantage of an essential character in the conven- 

 ience and economy of a farm. It is thought to be best adapted, 

 from its weight and steady motion, to heavy grass ; but the ap- 

 pearance of its half acre was hardly surpassed by that of any 

 other. This was one of the machines which had the fortune to 

 enjoy a double test of its capacity on the same day. With a 

 heavier crop and different kind of grass, in the park of the 

 court house, it turned out very beautiful work. The reputa- 

 tion of this machine improved as the hours of the day passed ; 

 and it is not improbable that some who were inclined to slight 



