CHAFF ENGINES. 



CHAFF-ENGINES. 



horses, and such as may have been injured in 

 their wind. 



"It is a fact that horses will live and continue 

 serviceable much longer when fed on cut fod- 

 der. The machine invented and manufactured 

 by Willis, known as ' Willis's Improved Straw 

 and Hay-Cutter' is the most durable and best 

 operating machine that has come to our know- 

 ledge ; and, what is worthy of notice, they re- 

 quire but one person to work them, which is not 

 the case with many other machines ; in this re- 

 spect there is a great saving in cutting feed, and 

 likewise the fodder may be cut of any length 

 required: the knives, being placed in front of 

 the machine, can be at all times examined 

 and put in good order. The feeding-rollers 

 are so constructed, that while the machine is 

 in the act of cutting, the rollers cease to 

 feed, which renders the cutting operation very 

 easy. When properly constructed, this ma- 

 chine works free and easy, and is not liable to 

 get out of order. It will cut from thirty-live to 

 forty lm>hels per hour. Price thirty-five dollars. 



"Eastinuu. ith improved side- 



gearinvraml cylindrical knives. This machine 

 is well calculated for large and extensive esta- 

 blishments. Price, fifty to sixty dollars. 



"The Common J)ul<ii Hu,nl < nine is 



one of those implements in common use, and 

 known to every practical farmer; and is con- 

 sidered as good a machine for a small esta- 

 blishment as any in use. It will cut from ten 

 to twenty bushels per hour. 



"Sa fiord's Improved and Common Straw-Cutter 

 with side-gearing. Well approved, and is in 

 very general use. 



" Green's Patent Straiv-Cutter, one of the most 

 approved machines now in use for cutting fod- 

 der : very simple in its construction, and not 

 liable to get out ef order ; does the work with 

 great ease and despatch." 



" Green's Patent Sinnc, Hay, and Stalk-Cutter," 

 says another excellent authority, " is very sim- 

 ple in its construction, and being made and 

 put together very strong, is not liable to get 

 out of order. By the application of a mecha- 

 nical principle not before applied to any imple- 

 ment for this purpose, the machine will cut 

 easily two bushels per minute, requiring only 

 the strength of a boy to work it. The knives 

 require less sharpening than, those of any other 

 straw-cutter, owing to the peculiar manner in 

 which thfy cut." 



The Albany Cultivator states, on the author- 

 ity of an intelligent and worthy farmer, that 

 two active men will, with this machine, by the 

 application of manual power alone, cut five tons 

 of hay jur day! The machine called No. 2, 

 which cuts three-fourths of an inch long, is 

 now sold for thirty-three dollars. 



The saving effected by the use of straw-cut- 

 ters often amounts to 50 per cent. The profits 

 and advantages accruing from cutting proven- 

 der, especially when this happens to be a high 

 price, is strikingly demonstrated by the follow- 

 ing statement. 



Mr. Benjamin Hole's account of the savings made 

 by the use of Straw-Cutters, employed to cut hay 

 and straw as fodder for horses. 



Mr. Hale is proprietor of a line of stages 



running between Newburyport and Boston. 

 He says, 



The whole amount of hay purchased 



from April 1 to Oct. 1, 1816 (six 



months), and used at the stage Tons. ewt. qrs. Ibs. 



stable, was 32 4 10 



At twenty-five dollars per ton (the 



lowest price at which hay was 



purchased in 1816,) $-800 00 



From Oct. 1, 1816, to April 1, 1817, 



whole amount of hay and straw 



purchased for and consumed by 



the same number of horses, viz. 

 T. ewt. qrs. Ibs. Cost. 

 Straw 16 13 3 10 $160 23 

 11 iv 13 14 1 00 350 00 



,$510 '23 



Deduct on hand April 1, 1817, by esti- 

 mation, fuur tons more than there 

 was o,-t. 1, IMo, at twenty-five 

 dollars per ton, 100 



Saving by, the use of the straw-cut- 

 ter, four months t in <>t'tlii: last six 



months, or the d:tr<-rciict; in ex- 

 in t'e-filmj! with cut fodder 



and that which is uncut $>'> "7 



Whole amount of hay used for the 



horses of the rialmi stage, twenty- 



fivH in number, from April 1 to Oct. T. ewt. qrs. Ibs. 



1,1" Irt, viz. '22 



At thirty dollars per ton (the lowest 



price in .Salem), $660 00 



Whole amount consumed by the 



same number of horses from Oct. 



1, 1816, to April 1, 1817, 



T. ewt. qrs. Ibs. Cost. 

 Straw 15 13 $17 80 

 Hay a 15 81 00 



Saving in using chopped fodder five 

 months, 



Total saving in using the straw-cut- 

 ter nine months, viz. at Newbury- 

 port four months 



At eSaleiu live months 



$391 20 



389 77 

 391 20 



Total, $789 97 



The members of the board of trustees of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Society,towhom the 

 above account was communicated by Mr. Hale, 

 were informed by that gentleman that he used 

 no more grain from Oct., 1816, to April, 1817, 

 than was used from April, 1816, to Oct., 1816. 



At a late exhibition of the Philadelphia Agri- 

 cultural Society, a premium was awarded fur 

 a new chaff or straw-cutter, invented by Mr. 

 C. T. Bolts, editor of the " Southern Planter," 

 published at Richmond, Va. The improve- 

 ment upon other machines for a similar pur- 

 pose consists chiefly in shortening the knives, 

 which are not wider than a common carpen- 

 ter's plane-iron, and like them can be easily 

 ground and set. It is a self-feeder, the operator 

 having nothing else to do but turn the crank. 

 The inventor remarks, that many straw-cutters 

 at present in use are sufficiently effective whilst 

 in order, but from the difficulty of bringing 

 them within the power of common manage- 

 ment, they have generally been abandoned for 

 the imperfect cutters made by the common 

 blacksmiths of the country. The inventor 

 therefore applied himself to the construction 

 of an implement which, if less rapid in execu- 

 tion, would be more durable, and within the 

 control of the simplest capacity. These are 

 the strongest testimonials in favour of the ex- 

 cellence of Mr. Botts's straw-cutter, the cost 

 of which varies from $25 for the smallest to 

 $30 for the largest size. 



An extensive farmer residing near Phila- 



309 



