214 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



angular, not sickle-shaped. It drew up heavy grass 

 better than any other, and in clean-raking as well as 

 need to be. It is also well adapted for raking up couch 

 grass. Prize of £1. 



Messrs. Cooper and Co.'s rake was next tried. This 

 is a counterbalance lever rake of useful arrangement, 

 each tooth having its own counterbalance; i. e., a 

 weighty casting at the other end of the tooth at the back 

 of the hinge-bar, each being independent of the other. 

 It could not draw up heavy grass into rows owing to 

 this counterbalance raising the teeth too readily, which 

 is good for barley raking. It has an arrangement for 

 the weed-extirpating teeth to be added. Weighs 4|cwt., 

 takes 7 ft. 6 in., price £7 18s. Highly commended for 

 its useful adjustments in balancing the teeth. 



Messrs. Ransomes and Sims' rake was late in the field. 

 It is exceedingly well made ; the lift not so easy as 

 some. It has a sliding-rod to take every alternate 

 tooth out of work when required ; takes 7 ft. 2 in. and 

 Sft. respectively; sides nicely regulated, on the Biddell- 

 scarifier principle. It drew up the grass admirably, 

 and its clean raking was equal to any. Price £7 10s. 

 Prize of ^'3. 



Mr. Thompson's rake drew up the grass well, and in 

 large rows, proving its capability to rake rough stubble; 

 its clean raking was not so well done. It has a some- 

 what peculiar combination of levers, so as to ensure a 

 receding motion of the teeth when raised, for the better 

 discharge of the burthen; its adjustments are good; 

 takes 7 ft. 1 in. Price £S, extra for steel teeth 10s. 



Mr. Woodbourne's rake is smaller in its general 

 detail, and too light for drawing up heavy grass. In 

 clean raking it did very well. The teeth are confined 

 in loops or links from the back. It has a simple plan 

 for holding it safe when travelling. Price £0 10s. 



Mr. Silcock's rake failed to make a row of grass. It 

 worked freely in clean raking, but we thought its bar 

 detrimental. Price, steel teeth, £8. 



Mr. Urry's rake is well arranged for work in various 

 ways, but without much complexity. " The teeth are 

 made to rake more or less on their points, by winch, 

 worm, and pinion, while at work." Its excellence in 

 work, simple contrivances for ready adjustment, and 

 price {£6 15s.), caused the judges to award it a prize 

 of £2. 



Mr. Rowsell's American horse-rake, iron-pointed, is 

 more particularly a wind-rowing rake; i. e., for drawing 

 swathe-hay into large rows for making into hay-cocks. 

 In this department of its work it does admirably, taking 

 out one-half of its teeth, which are simply run through 

 a mortice-hole in a square long beam, and so easily 

 taken out. For barley raking, either for rowing or clean 

 raking, the whole are kept in. It is guided by two 

 handles, nipping two of the tines, which all project 

 equally from either side of the beam. When full, the 

 workman just lifts the hinder teeth; this causes the 

 front teeth to catch the soil, and the rake is thus thrown 

 over and leaves its load clear. Price 28s. and 40s. 

 respectively. Silver medal. 



IMPLEMENTS FOR CARRYING. 



With respect to carts, the society issued recommenda- 

 tions in behalf of cranked axles, long shafts, and high 

 wheels ; and these recommendations have been very 

 generally complied with. The long shafts are prefer- 

 able for the same reason that long levers are preferable 

 to short ones ; but the cranked axle is of doubtful ad- 

 vantage when it supports a general-purpose cart, 

 because, for instance, when tipped, the inclination is so 

 small as to create almost as much difficulty in unloading 

 the body as there was in loading it. On some country 

 roads, too, the ruts would be too deep for them, in 

 winter. And the high wheels are open to objection, 

 where they are not overhung by boarded shelvings ; for 



in all dirty weather, and particularly while travelling on 

 dirty roads in windy weather, the cart would be filled 

 with mud. Carts made according to the Society's 

 suggestions have undeniable advantages upon the hard 

 road ; but we do not think them fitted for bad farm- 

 roads. 



T. Milford and Sons, William Busby, A. and T. Fry, 

 Alfred Crosskill, and J. and F. Howard took the prizes 

 given for carts constructed on this principle. Wheels 

 generally vary from four feet to four feet nine inches in 

 diameter; but here we have wheels more or less than six 

 feet in diameter. With raves and shelvings complete, 

 the prices of these carts vary from £15 to .£18 ; and 

 Busby, who took the second prize, has the advantage of 

 producing the cheapest article. For one-horse carts 

 Busby took the first prize, with a very strong, well- 

 made article. The wheels are comparatively high, and 

 the body low : the axle and shafts are straight. The 

 shafts are nearly horizontal, and fixed to the axle ; 

 whereby the draught is not communicated through the 

 body, but directly to the point of resistance, which is 

 accomplished by splicing the shafts, and employing 

 three small bolts to pass through the turned pillars, to 

 suit any sized horse, and to allow of the replacing of a 

 shaft in case of breakage. With harvest- raves, the price 

 of this cart is ^^15. We never saw any cart we could 

 so safely recommend for long service. The materials 

 are elm and oak. 



William Ball obtains the second prize of £4 for a 

 very good cart, price £"16. T. Milford and Sons ob- 

 tain the third prize for a cart that had no defect. When 

 speaking of the crank-axled cart manufactured by this 

 firm, we forgot to mention the defective tail-board. 

 They received, too, a silver medal for an improved one- 

 horse cart for general road and farm purposes, price, 

 complete, £15 15s. The body is made of planks, and 

 fixed directly to the axle, bringing it as low as tipping 

 will allow. The shafts are attached, so as to attain a 

 straight line of draught from the axle. This looks 

 strong enough for a London brick cart. 



Woods, of Stowraarket, received a prize of £2 for a 

 very strong cart, which with raves, &c., is sold for £14 

 10s. The principal thing to notice here is that the raves 

 are jointed in four parts, and fold up conveniently. The 

 wheels are specially good. 



A. Crosskill and J. and F. Howard received respec- 

 tively prizes of £2 and £1. Wo need say no more of the 

 first than that 4,000 carts of this make (Newcastle) have 

 been sold since 1846. In Howards', the shelvings are 

 entire and permanent ; and the tip consists simply of 

 three links of a strong chain fixed in the shaft- 

 head, and caught short or long at pleasure by a hook 

 in the frame of the cart- body. The price of the one is 

 £15 15s., of the other £"14. 



Milford's, Thompson's, & Hayes' carts are all highly 

 commended; Fry's also, bearing this distinction, de- 

 mands special notice on account of its wonderful soli- 

 dity. The bottom is one piece of elm, the sides and 

 front are all in one, and then three thick boards of well- 

 seasoned wood are strongly bolted together, making, 

 indeed, a union of strength. Price £15. 



Game's highly commended cart has many points of 

 excellence. Fii-st, it is strong ; second, the catt is 

 balanced on the ends of the shafts; third, the carter has 

 command over the tipping apparatus from behind, by 

 means of a connecting rod which runs on one side of 

 the body; fourth, it is cheap. Price £13 13s. 



The arrangement of the tailboard in Eaton's highly com- 

 mended ia quite worthy of remark. It is a fixture, and when 

 let down, it swings under, and ia retained there by a spring 

 catch, and while in this position the cart may be tipped without 

 its to\ichiug the ground. The tipping apparatus, too, la ad- 

 mirable, 'fhe price with raves, &c., complete, is £11. This 

 is an exceedingly cheap and useful convey auce. 



