FARM IMPLEMENTS. 163 



rake. The man who puts his labor in competition with the 

 labor of his neighbor's horse must toil early and late, work 

 hard, and be content with small profits, as will be seen by the 

 estimate which we append herewith. In this estimate we count 

 man's labor at twenty-five cents per hour, and span of horses 

 the same ; and with present improved mowers, machine mowing 

 is not hard work for man or horses — very different work from 

 swinging the scythe by hand. 



A man with a machine and span of horses will cut five acres 

 in five hours ; with rake and one horse will rake five acres in 

 two hours. Five men will mow five acres in five hours, and 

 three men will rake by hand five acres in five hours, and, allow- 

 ing eight tons of hay to the five acres, the account will stand 

 thus : — 



Mowing eight tons hay with machine, 

 Raking eight tons hay with horse-rake. 



Mowing eight tons hay by hand, .... 

 Raking eight tons hay by hand, ..... 



$10 00 



Showing the cost in one case to be $3.50 per eight tons, or 

 43| cents per ton, and in the other $10 per eight tons, or $1.25 

 per ton ; and in addition to this may be added the independence 

 from hired help and the ability to secure the hay at the best 

 time. 



CO. Perkins, Chairman. 



Great Barrington, June 23, 1868. 



PLYMOUTH. 



From the Report of the Committee. 

 Commencing with the mowers, it will no doubt be interesting 

 to give the historical fact that the first patent on a mowing- 

 machine ever issued in this country, or any other, probably, was 

 in this county, to Samuel Adams, of Kingston, about the year 

 1806. He was a poor man, and, as is too often the case with 

 inventors, was ruined in what little possession he had in his 



