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THE GENESEE FARMEE. 



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From the above, it will be seen that the report charges 

 each of the Endless Chain Horse Powers, with five men in 

 attendance, while in no instance were more than three men 

 engaged in these threshing experiments — and further, three 

 men can as well manage either of them, as six or seven can 

 the larger machines; while they are charged with only 

 that number. With the endless chain, the necessity of a 

 driver is avoided, as the feeder of the thresher not only at- 

 tends his own team, but has the whole under his control, 

 and can check or stop the whole instantly, by means of 

 brakes and lever. 



It is also observable that the yield is little better than half 

 a crop, while it is mixed with much weeds and grass, re- 

 quiring about the same power and labor as it would to pro- 

 duce results double what we have before us. As the ratio 

 of wheat to straw bears a very uniform proportion, these ex- 

 periments form good data from which to make the following 

 deductions : 



The Emery power required the team to travel but 1.9 

 miles per hour, and with the force of gravity alone, threshed 

 of this grain at the rate of 161 bu. per day, of cleaned wheat 

 at an actual cost, with the three men, of less than 2X cts. 

 per bushel, which, cleaned from the fine chaff with fan mill, 

 will add somewhat to that sum, making say three cents per 

 bu. over boarding, and calculating the board of three men 

 and two horses at 37X cts. each per day, will cost 4 cts. and 

 1 6-10 mills per bushel, or in a good yield, about half that sura. 



Badger's power requires over 2X miles travel of team per 

 hour, and threshed but 89 bushels of cleaned wheat per day, 

 costing for three men and two horses, 4 cts. 4 6-10 mills per 

 bushel, or cleared up at 4 cts. 9 S-10 mills, over board, or 

 including board of men and team, 7 cLs. 8-lOthsof a millper 

 bushel — or in gijod yield about half that sum. 



Westinghouse's power required less travel of team, Keing 

 about 1.6 miles per hour, threshing 148 bu. per day, costing 

 with three men and two horses, 2 cts. 7.7 mills per bu. over 

 board, or cleaned up, 3 cts. 2.9 mills per bu., or including 

 board, 4 cts. 5.8 mills per bu. — or in good yield about half 

 that sum, thus showing at a glance, that while Badger's 

 team travelled 30 per cent, faster, he threshed 45 per cent, 

 slower, costing 70 per cent, more per bushel than with Em- 

 ery's power ; and that with Westinghouse's the team travel- 

 led 19 per cent slower — threshed 9 per cent, slower— cost- 

 ing 10 per cent, more per bu. than with Emery's. 



It is proper to remark here, that Westinghouse was at one 

 time the agent for selling the Emery power, and but recently 

 has made the kind used at these trials, which, excepting an 

 alteration in increasing the gearing, (to its disadvantage in 

 strength and durability,) is in all other respects essentially 

 the same as the Emery power, and is claimed to be a bare- 

 faced infringement of his letters patent, and legal proceed- 

 ings have been directed against him therefor — thus estab- 

 lishing beyond cavil the superiority of the Emery's Endless 

 Chain Power over all others, and particularly the rack and 

 pinion. 



The writer would willingly stop here but for the reason 

 that an unfair, equally erroneous and unjust comparison is 

 made in said report, "between the two premium machines 

 in the different classes, which is wholly foreign to the sub- 

 ject, and drawn from prejudice or the want of a proper un- 

 derstanding of the long series of experiments accompanying 

 the same, and is not deducible from anything connected 

 with the reports of the experiments. 



Notwithstanding the report says — "These different clas- 

 ses cannot be compared with each other, your committee 

 has viewed them as unconnected," in the very next para- 

 graph it says, " The table shows Emery's machine requires 

 twice the time to perform the same work that Pitt's machine 

 will accomplish," then goes on with an ingenious calcula- 

 tion, and carries it through, showing thereby that grain can 

 be threshed by Pitt's machine just 3 7-10 mills less than 

 with Emery's, and that, "This difference will pay the extra 

 interest on the cost of the larger machine, the expense of 

 keeping it in repair, and the cost of an elevator to remove 

 the straw to the stack-yard." Again it says, " These advan- 

 tages belong alike to all the machines of the class of which 

 Pitt's is the representative," while Hall's, in the same trial, 

 of the same class, and the next best, came, by the same rule, 

 more than 44 per cent, short of Pitt's, while ths public well 

 know the relative merits of the two are barely discernible. 

 And again it says, " An earnest endeavor has been used to 

 ascertain and record facts in relation to each machine, with 

 the nearest approach to mathematical accuracy, and from 

 such premises to determine merits and excellences," and in 

 the next line it says, " It would mislead the farmers of the 

 State, and do injustice to the inventors, if the results exhib- 

 ited in the above table are allowed to stand as a correct 

 exhibit of the ability of the several machines to separate 

 wheat from straw." 



Next it assumes, " 360 lbs. of grain as a fair yield from 100 

 sheaves, and that 4,500 sheaves is a day's work for Pitt's 

 machine, making 270 bu. per day with 7 mcn=f 7 ; 8 horses 

 at $4— $11=4 cts. T-lOths of a mill per bu. 



The next assumption is, that as it takes Pitt's 53^ minutes 

 and Emery's lOX minutes at Geneva, and that if 270 bush- 

 els is a day's work for Pitt's, then half that, or 135 bushels 

 is a day's work with Emery's ; and the calculation includes 

 five men for even this small day's work, instead of three, 

 costing, per report, 4 cts. 4 4-lOth mills per bush. 



Now as the whole quantity threshed at Geneva averaged 

 but 171 lbs. per hundred sheaves, in the above calculations 

 the yield is more than double that at Geneva, and accord- 

 ing to the same rate as actually threshed by Pitt's there, he 

 would have obtained 74.3 bush, in ten hours, or just 2% 

 times more than is reckoned a fair days work in this " com- 

 parison ;" or in other words, that Pitt's was working 1% 

 times faster than could be kept up through the whole day, 

 which is readily accounted for by those who witnessed it, 

 as the fiitigue of the team, after threshing 5 min. 30 sec, was 

 greater than was caused by the whole threshing done on all 

 the Endless Chain Powers which were operated by the same 

 team in quick succession, requiring in one, and the last case, 

 17X minutes, and in all 41% minutes. 



Now, where is the justice of reducing the quantity in good 

 grain to 135 bush., while 161 bush, was actually the rate of 

 threshing poor grain, a deduction of over 16 percent., while 

 the Pitt's power, which has been shown to have been work- 

 ed 2^^ times faster than in the comparison, is made the 

 standard, aild its time alone considered as the index of its 

 capacity. 



To show the fallacy of this, let us reduce the trial at Gen- 

 eva from 5 min. 30 sec. to what it should have been, cj- 2% 

 times=15 min. 1}4 sec, which, compared with the correct 

 time of Emory's threshing, which is 10 min. 30 sec, shows 

 that instead of requiring more time, Emery's worked the 

 fastest by 4 min. 23 sec. or 40 per cent, faster than Pitt's, or 

 equal in good grain to 378 bush, per day, instead of 135 bu. 

 This is good logic, and based upon the materials in the re- 

 port and " comparison" there made. 



If to these estimates be added to Pitt's the boarding of 

 men and horses, the cost would come up to C cts. l><f mills 

 per bush., while if the board of three men and two horses 

 be added, (being all the force used unless the owneis of the 

 team are counted, who, being fearful for the safety of their 

 horses, no harness being allowed, attended and held them 

 during each experiment, it being the first time they had 

 been on a power,) the cost with Emery's power would be 

 but 4 cts. 8 4-1 0th mills per bu., making a difference in favor 

 of Emery's machine of 1 ct. 8 1-lOth mills per bush., or 30 

 per cent, less cost, instead of 9 per cent, more than with 

 Pitt's, as the " comparison " would have it. 



Although 270 bush, is more than an average day's 

 work for Pitt's machine, with any number of men and 

 horses, and especially with 6 and 7 men and 8 horses— it is 

 not unusual that 250 bush., and in very many instances 300 

 bush., have been threshed per day with the same tcarn and 

 four and five men all told, with the Emery power. While 

 these numbers are not published as an average capacity 

 for the Endle-ss Chain Powers of Emery's Patent, two 

 hundred bushels of wheat, of average yield, is their war- 

 ranted capacity with horses weighing 1000 lbs. each, and 

 four men to attend it. 



So much for this " comparison." If the relative capac- 

 ity, utility, portability, and cost, both of machines, as well 

 as running the same, is not established in favor of the 

 Endless Chain Power of Emery's Patent, not only over all 

 others of its class, but over the best of the larger kinds of 

 Lever Powers, by at least 33 per cent., then such trials 

 and experience cannot establish anything. 



As to the philosophical remarks in the report, concern- 

 ing the momenta of cylinders, as also their construction 

 as whole or open, or the use of various contrivances for 

 reducing friction and proper lubrication of machinery, as 

 also the simplicity of the construction of the premium 

 thresher, with its teeth 3 inches long, (while the report 

 says IX is better,) &c, I must omit, or lerve the subject 

 for another notice, or for those who are sufficiently quali- 

 fied to comprehend so great a subject. 



Having consulted several members of the committee, 

 both before and since the publication of the report, and 

 pointed out these errors, and learned from them that, hav- 

 ing made their calculation.s, based on what they considered 

 correct principles, they still adhered to the report, with a 

 conviction they had done justice to the subject and all con- 

 cerned. I would not in any manner wish to impeach their 

 motives, while I do question the results at which they ar- 

 rive. H. L. EMEKT. 



Albany, January 1, 1851, 



