256 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



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lii. 



KETCHUM'S OKE-HOESE3 MOWING MACHINE. 



The idea is now pretty well established in the 

 public mind, that the mowing machine will very 

 generally come into use, and that it deserves to 

 be ranked among the valuable labor-saving ma- 

 chines of the age. The timid and conservative 

 have had their day of doubt and criticism ; but 

 while they have been doubting and wasting hu- 

 man thews and sinews, active and progressive 

 minds have tested and re-modelled some of the 

 machines, until they have produced one which 

 will accomplish the work quickly, cheaply and 

 effectually. 



Such, we believe, will prove the one illustrated 

 at the head of this article. We cannot yet speak 

 of it with entire confidence, because nothing short 

 of actual field labor, under several trials, can in- 

 spire such confidence. But from the partial trial 

 we have given it, we can say that it comes nearer 

 our idea of what a mowing machine ought to be, 

 than any we have yet seen. 



We shall continue our tests of the machine in 

 the earliest grass we can find, and content our- 

 selves for the present, in showing the reader what 

 the proprietors of the machine think they have 

 accomplished. 



After repeated and long-continued experi- 

 ments in the field and manufactory, the proprie- 

 tors have succeeded in producing a one-horse 

 mowing machine, which for simplicity c' con- 



struction, lightness of draft, ease of operation 

 and the low price at which it is sold, must recom- 

 mend itself to every New England farmer. 



The machine is so constructed as to combine 

 great strength and durability with the smallest 

 possible weight ; the cutters are so formed as to 

 prevent entirely the liability to clog, so trouble- 

 some in some machines ; it may be stopped and 

 started in wet or lodged grass, without backing; 

 the seat is conveniently placed, so that the ope- 

 rator can ride with perfect ease to himself and 

 the horse ; it has a wheel and lever attached, by 

 which the operator can instantly raise the cutter- 

 bar six or eight inches, to pass over a stone or 

 other obstruction, and while raised, the machine 

 may be drawn to and from the field, &c. The 

 cutter- bar being always on a line with the axis 

 of the driving-wheel, this machine operates well 

 on rough or uneven ground, where other ma- 

 chines cannot mow. A very important improve- 

 ment in this machine, is that it can be instantly 

 thrown out of or into gear, by means of a short 

 lever, which can be operated with ease by the 

 driver on the seat. The machine is constructed 

 entirely of iron, and its parts so adjusted and 

 guarded against accidents, that it requires but 

 little mnre attention to keep it in working order 

 than the common scythe. 



For full particulars of the form, construction 

 and mode of management of the machine, see 

 advertisement in another column. The price of 

 the one-horse machine is $75, and the two-horse 

 '^bout $100. 



