THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



429 



tlie workiug of tliesc high sjieed (h'unis w hcu pro- 

 pelled by steam. It was evident they did the work 

 much quicker, and I felt sure it was also better douc, 

 which these trials have coulirmed, and again, the 

 straw being unbroken, was more useful tor many 

 purposes. 



The people employetl at the steam-engine and this 

 thrashing mill arc usually three men and nine women 

 and boys. Two horses are also required for driving 

 the grain from the stack to the barn. 



The men's wages may be reckoned s. d. 



at is. Gd. per day, or 7 6 



9 women and boys at ]s 



2 horses . . . , 7 



Coals, oil, &c 



£1 10 



Forty quarters of wheat may be counted a fair day's 

 work at eight hours' thrashing ; this makes the ex- 

 pense 9d. per qr., but exclusive of the interest of 

 capital invested in buildings and machinery. 



Machines are being put up by different English 

 makers in various parts of Scotland, and in many 

 instances the bolting drum is being substituted for 

 the old Scotch beater. In my own neighbourhood 

 this is very much the case ; my neighbour, Mr. 

 Bridges, of North Berwick, has already changed a 

 considerable number. He does not consider they re- 

 quire more power, though an enlarged boiler is general- 

 ly necessary, as they arc more de])endent for complete 

 success on a high uniform rate of speed. In new 

 machines Mr. Bridges also adopts the horizontal 

 shaker, though, from its lifting only at one end, I 

 should scarcely think it so efSeient as that used by 

 Messrs. Clayton, Shuttleworth, and Co. He has, 

 however, ingeniously contrived to put three blasts 

 into his mill fanners, to which the corn is subjected 

 before being lifted by an elevator to the finishing 

 fanners, which have two blasts. Thus, with only 

 one elevator, the grain is exposed to five blasts, 

 besides being put through or over five riddles and a 

 shaking screen. I mention these facts to show what 

 is doing, that Scotch engineers see the necessity of 

 marching with the times, and that they are deter- 

 mined not to yield without a struggle to their 

 southern rivals. But we Scotch farmers, neverthe- 

 less, owe a deep debt of gratitude to our English 

 friends for the vast improvements they have already 

 accomplished, and we may trust to be still more 

 benefited by their wholesome influence. Viewing 

 these English machines as portable ones, I consider 

 them very near, if not altogether perfect. While I 

 am more than pleased with my own new one, it 

 would be too much to say that, as a fixture, it is 

 unimprovable. The straw and chaft' are deposited 

 at opposite ends, which is better than having them 

 together ; but I would prefer a side delivery for the 

 chaff; in fact, I Lave a strong leaning to the old 

 Scotch plan of having the whole dressing apparatus 

 set across the barn ; it suits our buildings better. 

 This new dressing apparatus does remarkably well, 

 but it always appears to me too confined. You can 

 only see the effect ; you cannot see how it is done ; 

 and if any part requires attention, it takes some tine 

 to discover where the particular point is. I would 

 prefer seeing the grain finished oil by our old Scotch 



fanners, and despositcd in them by Arehimedian 

 scrcM's, carrying forward and regulating the feed, as 

 Mr. Hislop has done. Again, from the general 

 height of our buildings, it appears to me greater use 

 might be made of the hopper or inclined plane, to 

 run the grain to the blasts, without the intervention 

 of reciprocating or other movements, which require 

 to some extent an increase of power, besides extra 

 attention and greater expense for wear and tear. 

 But whether right or wrong in these remarks, which 

 I olfcr with great diffidence, I believe you will all 

 agree with mc in thinking that the Highland Society 

 has done well in offering an increased premium for 

 thrashing machines to be exhiljitcd at the Aberdeen 

 Show, and 1 hope a still more handsome one will be 

 allocated next year for the Edinburgh meeting. The 

 rules which should be adopted in testing these ma- 

 chines require some consideration. I consider the 

 first and greatest point to be clean thrashing, or 

 the perfect separation of the grain from the straw. 

 This can best be ascertained by the self-acting test 

 of weighing quantities of similar straw and grain 

 for each machine, and then weighing the produce. 

 The second point I consider to be the state of the 

 grain as it comes from the machine and the number 

 of separations made in it. This test might also be 

 made self-acting by passing each separation through 

 a dressing machine, and ascertaining the proportion 

 of tail corn left amongst the good, and also the good 

 amongst the tad. The third point might be the un- 

 broken state of the straw. The fourth, the sim- 

 plicity of construction, strength, finish, and non- 

 liability of the machine to get out of repair. Fifth, 

 time required for the work in proi)ortion to the 

 pov/er employed. Sixth, perceptible injury to the 

 grain, or throwing it over amongst the straw, to be 

 held as disqualifying points. If this meeting was 

 to pronounce an opinion on these matters, it would 

 confer a practical benefit on the Society, and also 

 intending exhibitors, by allowing the former to have 

 proper data to supply to the judges for their guid- 

 ance, and the latter to know exactly what was 

 wanted and expected from them. 



We labour our land, we enrich it with manure 

 often brought from the distant Pacific, we sow our 

 seed, wc reap and harvest our grain, and then too 

 frequently throw a largo percentage of it away. I 

 trust the time is not far distant when improved 

 thrashing machinery will be so common, as that every 

 farmer in the land will have the satisfaction of 

 knowing that no portion is lost of what costs so 

 much. 



The Chairman asked if any gentleman was pre- 

 pared to offer any remarks on the paper that had been 

 read. 



Mr. Scott, Craiglockhart, stated, that having long 

 ago been satisfied with the imperfections of the old 

 Scoth thrashing machine, so ably described by Mr. 

 Hope, he watciied with interest the introduction of 

 the English machines, and after careful inspection 

 of the work performed at the English Society's 

 Show at Carlisle, at our own Show at Glasgow, and 

 of a machine he saw at the home-farm at Windsor, 

 and having had a day's trial on his own farm of one 

 of Clayton and Shuttleworth's machines, he 

 formed the opinion that whilst the high speed 

 open drum and horizontal shakers were greatly 



