THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



U7 



lat. Adjudication by Points. — That the system of 

 establishing the excellence of any machine or implement by 

 summing up the number of points it obtains, in reference to 

 certain qualificatious clearly defined in the Socic'lij''s Sheet of 

 General Conditions, as was exemplified in the trials of steam 

 thrashing machines, should be extended to other machines as 

 far aa possible. 



2nd. Publication of these Records. — That the re- 

 sults thus arrived at should be tabulated, and given in printing 

 or writing to each e.xhibitor who competed for a trial, so that 

 he may be able to append them to his machines which have 

 been tried, on the first public day of exhibition. 



3rd. Speed of Drums. — Exhibitors should be informed, 

 at least one month before the trials take place, of the exact 

 diameter and speeds of the various fly-wheels and other driving 

 drums by which the various machines are to be driven when 

 under trial, whether power or hand machines. 



The Society's Conditions in full. — These should be 

 made known to each exhibitor much earlier in the year than 

 they are at present. 



Points of Merit. — We think that the points on which 

 the judgment should be based, are as follows : 



Steam Engines. 



Class I. 1st Division, Portable. — The tabular report 

 should contain all the particulars it does at present. And the 

 points for adjudicatioa should be — 



1st. DnrabiUty, thickness of tubes, and metal between tube 

 holes in furnace. 



2nd. Simplicity of construction and facility of repairs. 



3rd. Excellence of material and workmanship. 



4th. Duty done in reference to coal burnt. 



5th. Portability. 



6th. Price per horse-power. 

 We should also recommend — 



Ist. That the trials take place under a shed, covering the 

 engine, and also the dynamometer. 



2nd. That the coal used in the trial should be an average 

 quality of bituminous coal, and not asithracite. That the coal 

 be well broken, and the rubbish picked out before weighing 

 any of it out for trial. 



Second Division, Fixed Engines. — Thattheaboveplan 

 of trial should be carried out, subject to tlie alterations neces- 

 sitated by the difference between the two classes of inquiries, 

 for instance, omission of " Portability" as a poiut of merit. 



Thrashing Machines. 



Quality of Grain. — Thst care should be taken to have 

 the sheaves served out to the different machines as uniformly 

 dry as possible, and of uniform quality and bulk. 



Length op Trial, — That every machine should be tried 

 at least half-aa-hour. 



Points of Merit. — They should be continued as they 

 were at the Society's last trial. 



Nov. 2, 1857. Holmes & Sons. 



[Copy, as forwarded by Messrs. Ilornsby and Sons to the 

 Mark Lane Express.] 

 SUGGESTIONS 

 IN reference to the construction and trials of 

 steam-engines and other machinery to be ex- 

 hibited FOR prizes at the COUNTRY MEETING OF 



next year. 



General Recommendation. 



That the system at present adopted of a tabular form of 

 report, in recording the results of the trials of combined thrash- 

 ing and winnowing machines, should be, aa far as practicable, 

 extended to other implements. 



That these reports should be in the possession of each com- 

 petitor on the first morning of the public exhibition. 



Steam-Engines. 

 That in awarding the prizes for portable steam-engines, 

 the judges should be instructed to take into consideration the 

 various points of excellence in the competing engines in the 

 following order : — 



1. Durability. 



2. Construction and workmanship. 



3. Consumption of fuel as indicated by the dynamometer. 



4. Portability and weight |>er horse-power. 



5. Price per horse-power. 



That a tabular form, as in the case of the thrashing- 

 machine trials, be adopted, and that the numbers attached by 

 the judges to each head in the following form represent 

 the amount of credit given to each exhibitor for perfection 

 attained under the several heads. 



For example : Let perfection in the several heads men- 

 tioned below be represented by the following figures : — 

 Exhibitor's name 



Durability .. .. 12 



Construction and workmanship .. .. 10 



Consumption of fuel .. .. ., 8 



Portability and weight per horse-power . . 8 



Price per horse-power . . . . . . 6 



That a certain amount of heating surface be allowed per horse- 

 power ia portable engines, and exhibitors not permitted to 

 exceed that amount whatever may be fixed upon. 



That in tubular boilers no tubes be allowed to be nearer 

 together than one inch. 



That no exhibitor should be allowed to compete with steam- 

 engines above a certain power, say eight or nine horse; and 

 we would remark for your guidance that, as far as our manu- 

 factures are concerned, we have very little demand for portable 

 engines of less than eight-horse power. We should, therefore, 

 strongly recommend your sanctioning the power to extend 

 either to eight or nine horse. 



That the coals to be used be broken up and mixed, and any of 

 an in''erior quality thrown out, s) as to produce uniformity as 

 much as possible; and each exhibitor be served from the 

 same heap, and the greatest care taken in weighing, so that no 

 mistake can possibly occur. 



We further recommend that in conducting the trials, the 

 weight of water evaporated by each engine while under 

 trial be ascertained. 



Tnat it is most d'sirable and essential that all the engines 

 should be tried under a covered building. 



Thrashing Machines. 



That in addition to the present system adopted for ascer- 

 taining the merits of combined thrashing machines, due atten- 

 tion should be paid to th.'ir strength and durability, as it is 

 po3sib'e to make a macliine run light during the trial, and so 

 gain a poiut in that respect, but still by doing so the spindle- 

 bearings, &c., will be found considerably too light to stand the 

 wear and tear of farm-yard service for the length of time desira- 

 ble. 



That in the trial of thrashing-machines, it is essentially im- 

 portant that the sheaves should be supplied to the several 

 competing machines, as far as possible, in the same condition 

 as regards dryness, quality, and bulk. 



That the machines should he under trial for a longer period 

 than at any former meeting, say for half an-ho'.ir, which we 

 presume to be as long aa can be allowed. 



(Signed.) Richard Hornsby & Sons. 



Spittlegate Iron IVorl-s, Grantliam, 

 Lincobishire, Oct. 31, 1857. 



to the editor of the mark lane express. 



Sir, — I did not take a copy of my letter to the Secretary of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society in reference to the trial of 

 steam-engines and machinery ; hence, as I cannot give a ver- 

 batim copy from memory, this matter must just rest where it 

 is. I am glad to find that this question of trials is taken up 

 so spiritedly by your paper. 



I am yours respectfully, 



John Palmer. 



P.S. — In the Highland Society's Jbifjv^aZ for October they 

 neither have any fired conditions of trial, nor do they give any 

 report of the so-called trials of implements, steam-engines, &c. 

 Show the " braw" Scotchmen that the eyes of Englishmen are 

 upon them. J. P. 



to the editor of the mark-lane express. 

 Respected Friend, — We avail ourselves of your invita- 

 tion to forward copy of our suggestions for the conditions 

 under which engines and machines should be submitted for 

 test and adjudication to the Chester Meeting of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society. In doing so, we have mainly kept in 

 view the object of these trials, which ought to result in the 

 marking, not only upon one machine, but upon several that may 



