328 THE WHEAT CEXTTJRIST. 



all that Lie can desire in the Kirby. ~No expense has 

 been spared to perfect every part of it. D. M. Osborn 

 & Co., Auburn, N. Y., told me that their firm ex- 

 pended $20,000 in one experiment to bring out the 

 best labor-saving machine in the county. I merely pen 

 these facts — not to puff this reaper — but to suggest to 

 beginners the importance of getting such machines as 

 can be relied on when grass and grain are fit to har- 

 vest. 



There used to be, and there is now a serious defect in 

 most one-wheel mowers and reapers, which is this : if 

 the drive-wheel is in a furrow, the weight comes so 

 heavily on the finger-bar, and so lightly on the drive- 

 wheel, that the cutters cease to work. But this diffi- 

 culty has been obviated in the Kirby, as will appear 

 from the following brief description of the essential 

 parts of this reaper and mower. 



The illustration on the next page represents the Kirby 

 combined mower and reaper, with reel-self-rake attach- 

 ment, set up for reaping. 



The drive-wheel is bolted on the axle in the usual 

 manner ; but the plate on which the axle is cast, is 

 made to move vertically, in a groove of the frame, so 

 that the drive-wheel has a motion entirely independent 

 of the frame and the finger-bar, and will run into dead 

 furrows, or other depressions, and allow the cutting part 

 to work on the level ground, the motion and power of 

 the cutters not being affected in the least. In running 

 over stony and stumpy meadows also, this method of 

 connection with the drive-wheel gives great facility in 

 raising the frame, and with it the cutting parts, above 

 any obstructions. This is effected easily through the 

 adjustment made between the weight of the driver and 



