THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



237 



their award j they awarded the £15 prize, but withheld 

 the gold medal ; tlms denoting that there are other 

 reapers in their opinion superior to this. — Price £^37. 



Mr. Busby's was next tried. It is Dray and Go's, im- 

 proved Husscy with tipping platform. It takes two 

 men as above — one to the horses, the other with the 

 rake ; but in addition to these, it requires a number of 

 binders to clear the way prior to taking another bout. 

 This is all very well for reaping wlieat, and in general 

 seasons all right enough ; but when hands are scarce, 

 and crops ripe, it can by no means equal those reapers 

 made to work with independent side deliveries, and 

 managed by a driver only. (Lord Kinnaird's ma- 

 chine is said to have cut down last season 247 acres of 

 corn on one farm, having only 07ie man in attendance 

 with it.) This machine did its work remarkably well, 

 cleanly cut, and evenly delivered behind by rake, taking 

 about 4 feet 3 inches each cut. — Price ^25. This reaper 

 is so well known, and its knives in such high reputa- 

 tion, that further remarks would be superfluous. 

 The deciding point is between independent side-delivery 

 and the gathering into sheaves, the work to be at once 

 completed. 



Mr. Wray's one-horse reaper was next tried. The 

 great distinction here is in having an endless knife pass- 

 ing rapidly across and revolving freely from under the 

 back of the frame ; it has also the similar back-delivery 

 of Hussey's machine. It requires two men to work it ; 

 and the corn is left in sheaf quantities, wliich must also 

 be removed before it can take a fresh bout, being just 

 the objection of Busby's. This reaper did its work in 

 a workmanlike manner, but the cutting was not quite 

 equal to tl^e others, and when set very low for close 

 cutting it showed symptoms of clogging. The ingenious 

 arrangement of knives did not in this case show to ad- 

 vantage, not being able very readily to relieve them- 

 selves ; but take it altogether as a reaping implement 

 worked by one horse, it is a very commendable effort 

 for farm service. The breadth taken averaged about 

 3 ft. 8 in. Price £30. We might observe that the 

 pace was too quick in all the three trials ; no horses 

 could keep it up ; and in taking the slowest time (43 

 yards in 30 seconds) gives nearly three miles per hour : 

 the average pace of tbe various trials exceeded four miles 

 per hour. In trying all of them at a slow pace, we 

 thought Palmer's and Busby's did best, but then not 

 well ; the quicker the pace the cleaner and better the 

 cut, and the whole work generally. 



Owing to the unfortunate accident to Boydell's engine 

 the trials of ploughing, rolling, harrowing, and general 

 farm implement working was of course given up ; but 

 before leaving the ground horses were procured for the 

 purpose of trying a very ingenious and well-manufac- 

 tured implement. Hansom's potato-digger, made by 

 Coleman, of Chelmsford, for the purpose of digging or 

 throwing out potatoes from their rows. A ridge was 

 formed by the common plough, in the absence of a potato 

 row, upon which to test it : it was put into gear, and 

 being drawn by two horses, completely threw out the 

 whole row, and of course exposing whatever might have 

 been there — this was a loose ridge. There are some 

 very simple and clever contrivances in this implement : 

 one for adjusting the share to any dip or depth ; another 

 for setting the forking-wheel higher or lower ; and again 

 a circular rack as a stem to carry the front steerage- 

 wheels, to allow of their locking in any direction, and of 

 being lifted or depressed. Subsequently Mr. Wilber- 

 force kindly offered a row of potatoes in an ad- 

 joining field ; to this it proceeded, and being put into 

 work, quickly showed the greatest facility in taking up 

 potatoes, the whole row, tops, potatoes, and soil, being 

 all spread upon the surface, and, but for the prevention 

 of a screen, some of the potatoes would have gone in- 



conveniently far away. The whole was cleared to full 

 satisfaction. The arrangement of machinery is simple 

 and good : the cog-wheels are in a box, driving a re- 

 volving-wheel armed with forks. The share is attached 

 to the hind parts of the frame by the share-stalk, and 

 passes readily under the rows of potatoes. As they are 

 raised by the share, the revolving forks admirably 

 throw out the tubers for picking. Price ,£18. The 

 silver medal was awarded to it. 



The Show was held in the County-Asylum Field, 

 situated north-west of the city, a short distance through 

 the ancient Bootham Gate, and close to the York and 

 Scarborough railway, so that stock and implements 

 could be unloaded and reloaded by a convenient 

 landing stage on the siding laid down in the 

 yard. Nothing could surpass the excellence of 

 the arrangement and fitting-up of this show-yard. It 

 was walled off from the street, and surrounded by a 

 temporary board fencing. In that part of the meadow 

 nearest the street, devoted to live-stock, were seven 

 long rows of continuous shedding, with boarden roofs, 

 board-paititioned pens (with doors) for sheep and pigs, 

 and very convenient stalls for horses and cattle. Along 

 the east side of the field, under the shade of a 

 row ot elms, was a very long shed with a lean-to 

 boarded roof, containing pens with wire-net front for 

 the poultry, and affording also stall-room for some of 

 the horses ; the pens for fowls on a shelf, and for geese 

 and ducks on the grass, being a great advance upon the 

 "dish-covers" of last year. Every shed had its water- 

 tap, and near the entrance-gate was a raised inclined 

 platform for convenience in loading. We ought to 

 mention, too, the excellent building erected for refresh- 

 ment-rooms, and the spacious marquee in which the 

 company might rest themselves. Beyond the lines of 

 sheds we came to the enclosed " Judges' ring," and 

 other enclosures, where the entire horses exhibited their 

 style and action ; and then, at the further end of the 

 meadow, the high ridges were occupied by the stands of 

 implements and machinery. Indeed, the whole arrange- 

 ment was so good that the satisfaction of the thousands 

 of visitors, as well as of the numerous exhibitors, is the 

 highest testimonial to the zeal, consideration, and fore- 

 thought of the honorary secretary, Mr. Hannam. 



On Wednesday the members of the Society were ad- 

 mitted at ten o'clock, by free ticket, the public at twelve 

 o'clock — gentlemen by 2s. 6d. tickets, ladies by Is. 

 tickets ; and a very large number of people, including 

 an unusual assemblage of ladies, visited the yard. On 

 Thursday (the shilling day) a continuous descent of 

 heavy rain unfortunately damped the proceedings ; so 

 that there was a smaller number of visitors than would 

 otherwise have flocked to the yard, and the inspection 

 of the stock was very uncomfortable, if not impossible. 

 Let us first refer to the Implement Show. There were 

 102 exhibitors (9 more than last year), and a total of 

 995 implements and machines, being an increase of 

 295 over those at Rotherham. Of steam-engmes there 

 were 17, and of combined thrashing-machines 12. 



Couison, of York, showed his well-known mortising- 

 machine ; Reeves, of Bratton, their improved Chandler's 

 liquid-manure drill ; Cambridge, of Bristol, his 8-horse 

 power portable engine, combined thrashing-machine, 

 and self-cleansing press-wheel roller; Robey and Co., of 

 Lincoln, their eight-horse portable engine and combined 

 thrashing machine ; Coultas, of Grantham, his prize 

 turnip and general-purpose drills ; Foster, of Lincoln, 

 a seven-horse portable engine and combined thrash- 

 ing machine; Lambert, of York, a large assort- 

 ment of first-class implements; Bentall, of Maldon, 

 his unsurpassed and most valuable broad-sharing and 

 subsoiling implements, arranged in many forms for dif- 

 ferent purposes ; Hornsby and Sous, of Grantham, their 



