94 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



iug roots, or any otlier crops which require careful cultivation. 

 We need very much a convenient and effectual grubber and 

 horse hoe ; one which can be used previously to planting, to rid 

 the land of weeds and grass roots ; and afterwards among the 

 plants for stirring the soil and keeping it clean. We need a light, 

 and cheap, and easily-handled dibble, for seeding our turnips, 

 and mangolds and carrots. This of itself would save great labor 

 in the outset ; but we need still more some implement which will 

 take the place of that great number of hands which we must 

 now employ in weeding and thinning these crops. 



Of the machinery now used in haymaking, we have a very 

 good supply. The construction of the mowing-machine has 

 gone so far, as to leave hardly any thing to be desired in the 

 way of improvement. And the skill of the farmer in its use 

 has kept pace with the invention of the mechanic in its con- 

 struction. It will not be an easy matter to improve our 

 mowing-machines. 



We wish we could say as much of the horse-rakes and tedders, 

 which are in use among us. The problem of horse-rakes remains 

 to be solved. It is unfortunate that the " revolving rake," 

 with all its difficulty of management, should still stand very 

 high on the list — in the estimation of many, who like clean- 

 raked lands, and hay free from dust, — the highest. It is unfor- 

 tunate, also, that the mechanism of a tedder, which will work 

 easily, with light draft, and effectually, should apparently be so 

 difficult to devise. But so it seems to be. 



For loading hay in the field, it will probably be difficult to 

 riavent a machine superior to a strong arm with a good fork. 

 'But for unloading hay in the barn, we would direct the atten- 

 tion of our farmers to " Wheeler & Merrick's Excelsior Pitch- 

 fork." It is simple in its construction, can be managed by 

 any able-bodied farm hand ; and not only saves the heating and 

 exhausting labor of pitching hay from a load, in a close barn, 

 and perhaps to a great height, but it avoids the nefcessity of 

 employing a large number of men in stowing hay, and in passing 

 it from one part of the building to another. It is difficult to 

 estimate the precise amount of labor which it will save. It is 

 certain, however, that in raising a ton of hay to the top of a 

 well-filled mow, it can perform tlie labor of tliree able-bodied 

 men, and save the time of three more. And more than all, 



