115 



REPORT ON AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 



The Committee on Agricultural Im|)]ements report that it is due 

 to Mr. Henry Partridge, Jr., of Medfield, that the Exhibition was 

 not perfectly barren of those articles which most appropriately sym- 

 bolize the great science of Agriculture, and which, as much as any 

 thing, mark its progress and contribute to its success, and they 

 award to him the two premiums for which he contended, viz : — 

 For the best and most extensive collection of Agricultural Imple- 

 ments, first premium, .... ^15.00 

 For the best assortment of implements made in the Coun- 

 ty, first premium, - - - - 6.00 

 The articles constituting the largest collection, were gathered in 

 one of the city warehouses, and comprised a sample of the ordinary 

 imijlements of Agriculture, such as have been in common use. The 

 premium was offered to induce manufacturers and dealers to add to 

 the interest of the Exhibitions by presenting articles so intimately con- 

 nected with agriculture, and so indicative of the progress of the art. 



The changes and improvements which have been made in agri- 

 cultural implements in the space of ten or twenty years are marked 

 and significant, but from year to year it is difficult to discern, in the 

 ordinary implements, any remarkable alterations. In the annual 

 list of patents there are many in the Agricultural Department which 

 are designed chiefly for the sections where farming is done on a far 

 larger scale than here, in New England. The character of our soil, 

 and its rough and uneven surface, obstruct the operation of those 

 labor-saving machines, which have been so extensively introduced 

 into the Western States, including, also, the State of New York. 



During the year 1852, letters patent were granted for inventions 

 and improvements in agricultural implements in number as follows — 

 Churns, 9 ; Corn Shellers, 2 ; Cultivators, 3 ; Grain Separaters, 4 ; 

 Harvesters of grain and grass, 20 ; Hoes, 1 ; Hullers of rice and 

 buckwheat, 3 ; Seed Planters, 24 ; Ploughs, 14 ; Potato Diggers, 

 2 ; Potato Washers, 1 ; Rakes, 4 ; Straw Cutters, 4 ; Threshers, 

 4 ; Winnowers, 4 ; Ox Yokes, 3, and some others ; and among all 

 • the hundred patentees, not more than two or three are from the 

 State of Massachusetts, and not more than six from all the otlier 

 New Ennrland States. 



