36 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



entered, single and combined, was forty-four; the number of 

 reapers, thirty; or seventy-four in all. It was plain at a 

 glance, that a decided improvement had taken place in work- 

 manship and mechanical finish. The mowers were more com- 

 pact, simpler in construction, lighter, and yet equally strong ; 

 they ran with less friction ; the draught was easier, and the 

 machines generally were less noisy ; they cut the grass bet- 

 ter, and were capable of working over uneven surfaces. The 

 committee say in their report : " Those who had been present 

 at former trials were astonished at the general perfection 

 which had been attained by manufacturers of mowing-ma- 

 chines. Every machine, with two exceptions, did good work, 

 which would be acceptable to any farmer ; and the appearance 

 of the whole meadow, after it had been raked over, Avas 

 vastly better than the average mowing of the best farmer in 

 the State, notwithstanding the great difficulties that had to be 

 encountered. At previous trials, very few machines could 

 stop in the grass and start without backing for a fresh start. 

 At the present trial every machine stopped in the grass and 

 started again without backing, without any difficulty, and 

 without leaving any perceptible ridge to mark the place where 

 it occurred." 



We may here note the rapid progress of these most valua- 

 ble labor-saving machines, for while, in the earlier trials, only 

 one or two mowers met with any success whatever, — no one 

 doing what practical farmers could call good work, — in this 

 trial forty-two of the forty-four machines entered did their 

 work well. In the early contests even a partial success was 

 the rare exception; in the late, failure was the equally rare 

 exception. In 1850 less than five thousand machines had 

 been made and put into use, and few if any of them gave 

 satisfaction. Now there is scarcely a farm of any size in the 

 country but has its mowing-machine. It is one of the grand- 

 est agricultural inventions of modern times, and yet we see 

 that it is less than twenty years since doubts were freely en- 

 tertained as to whether it would ever become practically use- 

 ful, whether the numerous mechanical obstacles would be en- 

 tirel^^ overcome. Its triumph has been complete. We have 

 now many mowers that have not only a national but a world- 

 wide reputation. The successful introduction of these ma- 



