FARM IMPLEMENTS. 113 



all seventy-four. As compared with the machines at Syracuse, 

 nine years previous, there was a decided improvement in work- 

 manship and mechanical finish. The mowers were more com- 

 pact, 'more simple in construction, lighter and equally strong. 

 They ran with less friction, with easier draught, and generally 

 with less noise. They cut the grass better, especially over 

 uneven surfaces. 



The following extract from the report of the committee will 

 convey an idea of the general progress: — "Those who had been 

 present at former trials, were astonished at the general perfec- 

 tion which had been attained by manufacturers of mowing 

 machines. Every machine, with two exceptions, did good 

 work, which would be acceptable to any farmer ; and the ap- 

 pearance of the whole meadow, after it had been raked over 

 was vastly better than the average mowing of the best farmer 

 in the State, notwithstanding the great difficulties that had to 

 be encountered. At previous trials, very few machines could 

 stop in the grass and start without backing for a fresh start. 

 At the present trial, every machine stopped in the grass and 

 started again without backing, without any difficulty, and 

 without leaving any perceptible ridge to mark the place where 

 it occurred," 



In this trial the Buckeye, as at Syracuse, rec^eived the gold 

 medal as a mower, a tribute alike to the genius of the inventor 

 and the skill of the manufacturers, Messrs. Adriance, Piatt & 

 Co., of Poughkeepsie, -New York. This machine is also manu- 

 factured, for a part of the New England States, by the Buckeye 

 Mowing Machine Company, at West Fitchburg, Massachusetts. 



The frame of the Buckeye is made of wood, this being re- 

 garded as, on the whole, the best material. Where iron is used 

 the weight of the machine is increased, and, in case of breakage, 

 it is not so easily repaired; in fact, a new frame is needed, 



