FARM IMPLEMENTS. 243 



Mr. Ware proposed to use Manny's machine, the same that 

 he has operated for two years past, with horses weighing about 

 eleven hundred pounds each. 



Mr. Merrill proposed to use Allen's machine, with horses 

 weighing about a thousand pounds each. 



A day was appointed, and a favorable field selected on the 

 Derby farm, near the head of the harbor, in Salem. Many 

 people gathered to witness the contest between two so energetic 

 and experienced workmen. Farmers came miles to learn what 

 kind of things these mowing machines are — some doubting 

 whether they could be worked at all by horse power. Two 

 half acres of grass, estimated to contain one and a half tons to 

 the acre, were measured off as near alike as possible, and the 

 competitors started at the same time. Unfortunately, on going 

 around tlie second time, Mr. Ware's machine struck a fast rock, 

 which broke off one of the points and disabled it for the day. 

 Mr. Merrill continued on, in a manner highly satisfactory to 

 all present, until he completed the cutting of his half acre in 

 nineteen minutes. This work was witnessed by the committee. 

 A few days subsequent, the committee were invited by Mr. 

 Ware, to witness the cutting of half an acre of grass on land 

 of Mr. Rowe. This was satisfactorily done in twenty minutes, 

 containing at the rate of two tons to the acre. Subsequently, 

 the committee witnessed the cutting of an entire acre by Mr. 

 Merrill, in thirty-five and a half minutes, yielding two and a 

 half tons. This was the most expeditious cutting seen by the 

 committee. There was no perceptible difference in the quality 

 of the work done by the two machines ; and judging from what 

 we saw in the field, we do not feel justified in giving either of 

 the machines a preference over the other. We liked the opera- 

 tion of both, and were astonished that grass could be cut by 

 their use, at less than half the expense we have ever before 

 known it to be done by the scythe, under circumstances m t 

 favorable. 



Upon examining the returns made by Mr. Ware, we find that 

 he has cut the present season more than one hundred acres of 

 grass, yielding two tons to the acre — no time varying essentially 

 from fifty minutes to the acre ; and in the course of three years, 

 with the same machine, more than three hundred acres, at an 

 expense for repairs not exceeding |5 per year. 



