196 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



poiatments engaged, required a power of draught equal 

 to 228 kilogrammes (4| cwt.), which corresponds with 

 a work per second of 251 kilogrammes (5 cwt.). 



The same machine cutting a breadth of 1 m. 35 d. 

 (about 4 feet) required a draught of 317 kilogrammes (6 

 cwt. 37 lbs.). The speed was the same as when not 

 actually working. The labour expended was, therefore, 

 349 kilogrammes (nearly 7 cwt.). 



The effort due to the cutting alone and laying the 

 swath was 89 kilogrammes (1 cwt. 88 lbs.). 



The difference between the draught when not at work 

 and that during the cutting was as 0.72. 



The quantity of labour per square metre cut, rose to 

 234 kilogrammes, of which there were only 66 kilo- 

 grammes employed in the reaping and laying the swaths. 

 The rest served to draw the machine upon the very soft 

 ground soaked with the rain, upon which it operated. 



2. The machine of M. Mazier, weighing 400 kilo- 

 grammes (8 cwt.), drawn by two horses, walking, not at 

 work, at the rate of 1 m. 10 d. per second (the same as 

 Messrs. Burgess and Key's), carrying the driver and the 

 sheaf-binder, having all its appointments engaged, re- 

 quired a draught of 137 kilogrammes (2 cwt. 83 lbs.), 

 which corresponds to a labour of 151 kilogrammes per 

 second (3 cwt.). 



The same machine cutting a breadth of 1 m.20 d, (Sft. 

 4 in.) required a draught of 182 kilogrammes. It pro- 

 ceeded with the same speed of 1 m. 10 d. per second. 

 The labour expended was, therefore, equal to 200 kilo- 

 grammes (4 cwt,). 



The resistance due to the cutting alone was equal to 

 45 kilogrammes. 



The difference between the draught not at work and 

 that during the cutting was as 0.75. 



The quantity of labour per metre cut was equal to 

 152 kilogrammes (3 cwt. 4^ lbs.), of which there were 

 37 k. 50 h. employed in the cutting. The rest was ab- 

 sorbed by the draught, the conditions of which were 

 exactly the same as those under which the machine of 

 Messrs. Burgess and Key performed. 



The field in which the dynamometrical experiments 

 were executed was under an abundant crop, laid in some 

 parts. 



We know that the average power of a good horse, of 

 an ordinary farm, in excellent condition, is equal to 

 70 kilogrammes. We therefore see that in the con- 

 ditions under which we have operated, the two horses of 

 Burgess and Key worked as four good horses, and those 

 of M. Mazier as two and a-half horses. But it must be 

 borne in mind that the field required an enormous 

 draught, which would have been reduced to probably 

 half, if the land had been dry and hard. Every one 

 knows, in fact, what difference the draught meets with 

 between a good road and one broken up ; the variations 

 of draught are not less between dry and wet fields. We 

 may regard the preceding results as maxima which we 

 shall rarely go beyond in practice. 



The difference between the amount of labour ex- 

 pended per square metre for the cutting and laying the 

 swath in Burgess and Key's machine, and for cutting 

 only in that of M. Mazier, is 28^ kilogrammes, or nearly 

 one-horse power. Such is the enormous labour that 

 will be required with reaping-machines for the sheaf 

 binder. This statement demonstrates the interest 

 attached to the construction of machines that can sheaf, 

 or lay in swaths by machinery. 



15th. — There are still many questions to examine, 

 both in a dynamometrical point of view, and in respect 

 to the better arrangement of the sections of the ma- 

 chines. What ought to be the speed of the see-saw 

 movement of the cutter, and which is the preferable 

 mode of arranging the teeth ? Would not the step of 

 an ox be better adapted for drawing the machines in the ' 



ordinary state of their organs ? Will not the arrange- 

 ment ot the land in ridges, so frequently in practice in 

 many parts of France, bean obstacle to a beneficial em- 

 ployment of mechanical reapers ? On all these points 

 another meeting, convoked in two years, and prepared 

 beforehand to give time to plan the machines in varied 

 conditions, might furnish, to both agriculturists and 

 machinists, invaluable information. The jury expresses 

 a wish that the Minister of Agriculture will take into 

 consideration the preceding observations on the organi- 

 zation of a meeting which shall render many services to 

 agriculture. 



The meeting of Fouilleuse certainly could not make 

 provision, when so short a time had elapsed since last 

 year, for bringing forward and testing any capital new 

 invention. However, it has signalized real improve- 

 ments, especially in regard to the continuity of the ma- 

 nufacture. Thus, according to the details given above, 

 we can reckon that there ai"e now in France from 400 to 

 500 reaping-machines. Now, only a year ago, our 

 makers were yet only feeling their way : from this day, 

 the incredulity of the generality of the cultivators hav- 

 ing given way, where even they are not absolutely satis- 

 fied with the results obtainsd, they give the manufac- 

 turers numerous orders. The latter are therefore en- 

 couraged to go back to their workshops in a spirit to give 

 satisfaction to agriculture. Improvements must neces- 

 sarily suggest themselves to the constructors by the mul- 

 tiplicity of the conditions under which the machines 

 will be employed. 



IGth. The problem that it is proposed to solve, is not 

 merely a question of economy in money. The reaping- 

 machine will afford a certain means of increasing, by 

 more than one-fourth, the produce of the harvest by 

 suppressing the fatal causes of waste produced every 

 year by bad weather and scarcity of hands. Besides, 

 the substitution of machine for hand-labour in cutting 

 cereals will certainly do away with the most severe la- 

 bour that can be imposed upon man to perform. In all 

 the academies we reward the inventors of ))rocesses that 

 render the arts less insalubrious. How worthy are those 

 of applause who exert.themselves to construct machines 

 by which we can every year save so many peasants now 

 killed by the sun, or the rain striking them on the back 

 during twelve or fifteen consecutive hours 1 \\^e can con- 

 ceive, therefore, all the interest that the government of 

 the Emperor attaches to the discovery of good reaping 

 machines. M. Fould, Minister of State, came at an 

 early hour, to be present at the experiments of the 

 jury. M. Rouher, Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, 

 and Public Works, accompanied by M. de Morny de 

 Mornay, Director of Agriculture, remained on the field 

 during all the afternoon. When M. Trisca directed the 

 dynamometrical experiments, of which this report gives 

 the details, his Royal Highness Prince Napoleon came 

 to see how the machines performed ; and lastly, the 

 Emperor followed attentively, during more than two 

 hours, the experiments of the jury, and expressed to 

 the exhibitors the deep interest he attached to their in- 

 ventions. Whilst commanding the armies, the Emperor 

 of the French wishes to be considered the first agricul- 

 turist of the country. 



The public trials that took place after the experiments 

 of the jury, were attended by a large concourse of spec- 

 tators. Applauses have many times saluted the ma- 

 chines which overcame the obstacles presented by the 

 state of the crops and the difficulties of the land. All, 

 both people and chiefs, whilst acknowledging that there 

 was much still to be done, were anxious to express their 

 delight at seeing overcome so many difficulties formerly 

 deemed insurmountable. 



The reporter, 

 J. A. Barral, 



The President of the Jury, 

 General Allard. 



