THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



435 



sianily varying ; oiul to approximate the truiii, 

 iliprelbre. is as much as ran be. expecied. Some- 

 ihinif, indeeii, a jrodd deiil, depends upon liie lact, 

 whether jrood crad ers have lo be slopped in order 

 to run the machin<*; jiood policy, however, would 

 always sujzizest ihe propriety ol'stoppinj^ the worst. 



It is not enough to ascertain the number ol 

 binders required lo run the machine, in order to 

 determine precisely the lime saved. Say 8 hands 

 are required lor this purpose in heavy vvlieal, and 

 where the rows are pretiy lonir, and such situa- 

 tions are the most favorable to the rea[)er, and six 

 where '.he wheat is lightest and ihe'rows short, and 

 a good deal of time consequently lost in turning. 

 Are six cradleis saved in the lorraer case, and 

 lour in the latter, estimating the driver and raker, 

 who ought to be good and efficient hands, as ol' 

 equal value with cradlers? Certainly not ; and 

 lor this reason. The reaper cannot be started 

 as long as there is any dew on the wheat in the 

 morning, nor can it operate after much has fallen 

 in the evening. At such times the hands that 

 attend the machine have to be employed in some 

 other way ; and tjioving from one kind of work 

 to another is always attended with more or less 

 loss of time. Nor is this all. In shocking wheat 

 alter the machine, some loss of time is also incur- 

 red. Where we use the cradles, the bindera 

 follow immediately behind them, and then come 

 the pickers-up, followed by the shockers, and the 

 whole work goes on together. The reaper, 

 however, when operating in long rows, as it must 

 do 10 work to advantage, scatters the woik so 

 much, leaving it in long narrow strings, that 

 shockers cannot find constant employment in 

 (bllowing it. We have Ibund it necessary, there- 

 lore, to stop a part of our cradles, once a day, in 

 order to bring up the shocking after the machines, 

 which certainly occasions some loss of time. 

 Stiil I think on the whole that the securing of our 

 crop has been somewhat expedited by the use of 

 these machines ; and if binders could have been 

 hired to operate ihem, without stopping the cradles 

 lor the purpose, our harvest would have been 

 very materially shortened ; and the loss of wheat 

 would unquestionably liave been much less. 



It woukl aud greatly to the value of these 

 machines, if the ingenious inventor, Mr. Hussey, 

 could devise sonie way to make them cut damp 

 straw ; so that ihey might be kept at work all 

 day. Whatever Mr. Hussey has not accomplish- 

 ed, however, is, 1 am sure, owmg to the intrinsic 

 difficulty of making the improvement desired ; 

 lor the wonder with roe is not that he has achiev- 

 ed no more, but that he has done so much. 



The reaper compares most advantageously 

 with cradles in cutting heavy wheat that stands 

 well, cutting it quite as rapidly as it would a 

 lighter crop, which tiie cradles would not do; 

 or in cutting fallow wheat that inclines altogether 

 one way. The fallow wheat, however, must be 

 cut the way it inclines, the knife going under it, 

 and it is latd beauiilully, as it lalls li-om the ma- 

 chine, (or Ihe binders ; but the machine must go 

 back without cutting. I am not of opinion thai 

 the reaper will answer in all situations, or will 

 even supersede the use of the cradle altogether; 

 but I incline to think that it may be used to great 

 advantage in securing parts of almost every large 

 crop ; at least on level land. 



After timing these machines repeatedly, I 



I have not been as yet able to get either of ihem 



I to cut more than an ticre per hour, and, by the 



I way, that is quite expeditious work in heavy 



wheat. Eetbre trying the reaper, I had supposed 



thai good scyiheinen would average more than 



2 acres a day in good wheat, but I am now con- 



j viiiced that this is quite as much as can be done. 



I My overseer, Mr. Adams, who superintended the 



! niMchities, and is quite a judicious man, enlerlaina 



' the belief that 1| acres might be accomplished 



i by the reaper in an hour, with ffist horses and 



'superior driving. It is probable, too, that the 



ex[)erience of another season might enable us to 



eliect more than we have yet done, Eut still 1 



! doubt if an acre and a half an hour can ever be 



j counted on for many consecutive hours. 



An observant gentleman of Charles City, and 

 a practical farmer too, who has one of these 

 I machines which he worked iast year, informed 

 i me recently that it would cut down sixteen acres 

 i of wheat a day, or would do the work of eight 

 j cradles. The testin)ony of tl)is gentleman is 

 every way entitled lo credit, and justice to Mr. 

 Hussey seems to require that it should be men- 

 tioned. I presume of course that some allowance 

 was made Ibr the time lo^t in the morning and 

 evening, when the :^lraw was damp. 



In removiotr the machines, we employed for 

 the most part the same horses and hands. When 

 iheycanbe conveniently changed, so as to lose 

 no time in feeding, the amount of work will no 

 doubt be much greater; as full two hours are 

 allowed at dinner time in harvest. When this 

 plan is adopted, the horses and hands intended to 

 work the latter half of the day, must be fed only. 

 I have heretofore mentioned that the two 

 machines sent me by Mr. Hussey are of different 

 kinds. The one has two lar<:e wheels and the 

 other one, and I give a decided preference to 

 ihe former. It is an easier draught and performs 

 better in every respect. 



Before taking leave of the subject, I would 

 respectfully suggest .to those who are making 

 ;rial of these machines for the first time, that they 

 ought not to be disheartened, if they (iiil to perfbrm 

 very perfectly i'uT the first day or two. What- 

 ever difitjrence of opinion may exist in regard to 

 their saving time, there certainly can be none as 

 10 the very superior stylp, in which they save 

 wheal, when properly managed. 



With regard to the durability of these ma- 

 chines. I can say no more than that neither gave 

 out during our harvest, and that they are to ap- 

 pearance quite strong. 



Wm. B. Harrtsok. 

 Brandon, July Uih, 1841. 



ANOTHER TRIAL OF THE REAPING MACHINE. 



[In addition to Ihe foregoing statement, we are 

 graiified lo add the lollowing, from Robert B. Boi- 

 ling, esq., who, at our request, and through our ar- 

 rangement with Mr. Hussey, made a separate 

 trial on his Sandy Point estate. The intention to 

 make this irial would have been announced at 

 the same time wiih thatof Mr. Harrison (in No. 5 J 

 but that the arrangement had not then been com- 



