Vol. 6. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



41 



REAPING MACHINE. 



The advantages of this machine over all otherg are 

 as follow : its construction is of such a nature as to 

 allow the machine to turn right or left, on any circle 

 that may be required — the cutter having the same 

 motion as if moving straight forward. The easy 

 manner in which the grain is drawn down against 

 the cutter, by the use of an endless apron, without 

 the danger of beating out the grain, (as is the case 

 where reels are used for that purpose ;) also, the 

 simpl'3 way in which the gi ain is discharged from the 

 machine, by a man who stan.ls upon the same plat- 

 form on which the grain falls, by the use of a sort ol 

 rake or fork, in a proper shape for bind-'ng ; the 

 frame extending back far enough to ailmit the horses 

 directly in rear of the machine — which is another 

 gr^at advantage over all machines diawn from the 

 sill or corner. The mction of th? cntt'?r is obtained 

 by means of internal gear, inclosed in the driving- 

 wheels, v/hich aie made principally of cast iron — an 

 advantage, when compared with external gearing, of 

 50 per cent, in the cost of the required amount of 

 motion. It must be clearly seen, that it does away 

 with the complications of frame-work, journals, and 

 boxing, &€., w'lich is required to support external 

 gearing. There are, also, farther advantages in the 

 internal gearing — it forms the driving-wheels, and 

 being so inclosed, cannot possibly get out of order — 

 and, at the same time, is entirely out of the way. 



The cost of the machine will be about ^75. 



WM. H. KETCHUM, 

 E. P. NEEDHAM. 



Buffalo, Feb. 1845. 



As far as mechanical construction and ingenuity 

 of contrivance in its action can be judged of, without 

 seeing its operation, we think the above machine 

 promises well, and will be a cheap and labor-saving 

 michine for well-cleared fields, and particularly for 

 the western prairies. One span of horses and two 

 men are expected to cut from 20 to 30 acres per 

 day. — Ed. Farmer. f 



No man ever trusted in God but he found him 

 fpithful , nor in his own heart but he found it false. 

 Who-'ver has true Christianity, cannot be poor; who- 

 ever is without it, cannot be rich. 



SHADE TREES. 



A very sensible correspondent of the " Boston 

 Cultivator," in speaking some time ago of the party 

 zeal evinced in tlie late campaign, and the unprofita- 

 ble and foolish direction that was given to it in many 

 respects, remarks, in regard to pole-raisings 



" Had the worthy guardians of the nation's rights 

 who reared them, planted trees with good roots in 

 their places, a much nobler object would have been 

 gained than any that are now existing. Then they 

 might have stood for ages, and furnished a beautiful 

 object for future generations to look upon, and plea- 

 sant shades for the children of future years to gather 

 under. Then the hoary-headed sire might have told 

 his children's children, as he sat down in the evening 

 of his days, that " that tree was planted as a politi- 

 cal emblem, in 1844." It would have been a beauti- 

 ful theme for the men of either party to have dwelt 

 upon, and our country would have been vastly richer 

 in rural embellishments than it will be when these 

 seared poles have fallen." 



He also recommend!-', " that the members of 'Con- 

 gress for each party, immodiately on the convening 

 of that body, call meetings of their party, and deter- 

 mine forthwith what trees shall be thdr emblems 

 for the next campaign, and oive notice thereof, with 

 the assurance, that none will be accepted but those 

 that shall appear the next summer full of leaf and 

 thrifty growth." 



We like the suggestion very much, though we 



fear it is made in vain. If carried out, it would be a 



new and interesting feature in politics, and one from 



which the country would derive some benefit, to 



make up for the great waste of time and labor of 



which we have been guilty. In passing through the 



country last aut'.nnn, we saw farmers and their fam- 



I ilies engaged, with the utmost enthusiasm, in erect- 



[ ing poles ; while their dwellings, barn?, fences, gar- 



' dens, Sic, indicated sharaefal neplect. We Vke to 



1 see a proper degree of interest taken in the affairs of 



the nation ; but when men nerlect their own daily 



and legitimate pursuits, to babbb about politics and 



I enact absurd and unmeaning foll'es, they should re- 



I member, that they are doing themselves an-1 t^eir 



1 country a positive injury. P. B. 



