1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



cheap, faithful and competent help for their 

 work as will be found in any occupation. 

 Lawrence, Mass., July, 1864. N. s. T. 



The Sheared Sheep. — You have been 

 shearing. Do you intend to turn the meek 

 and amiable animals, which have just been 

 stripped '.'•tark- naked' for your benefit, adrift, 

 to sleep on the cold ground, and take the 

 storms as they come ? You have had abun- 

 dant evidence that sheep have thick coats 

 these days, and when you shear them it is like 

 wearing an over-coat, under-coat, shirt and 

 wrapper, and stripping them all off and going 

 nakeil. 



You would expect to die if you did it, and 

 you ought to ; and that is about what those 

 deserve who shear their sheep at their own 

 convenience, and let them take the rains and 

 the winds, and the frosts as they come. In 

 this way, multitudes of sheep sret coughs, con- 

 sumptions and premature death, and are re- 

 ported to die of grub in the head, &c. Don't 

 be so gieedy but what you can leave a good 

 hall-inch of wool on the sheep when you shear ; 

 you will get it all in the end ; and, futhermore, 

 shelter your sheep for at least three weeks 

 after shearing, every rain antl every night that 

 is not particularly warm. — Hugh T. Brooks, 

 Wijomiiig Co., N. Y., at a Shearing Festival. 



PAKIS TKIAL OF MOWING MACHINES. 



The trial of Mowing Machines at Paris 

 opened on Thursday, the 23d of May. The 

 place chosen for the trial by the Imperial 

 Commission was upon the farm of the Empe- 

 ror, at Feuilleuse, situated about one and a 

 half miles from St. Cloud, the site of the sum- 

 mer palace of the present Emperor. The 

 field selected for this important work was one 

 not calculated to please the contestants. The 

 ground, though for the most part level enough, 

 terminated with a gradual elevation at the far- 

 ther end. It was "seeded down" last year to 

 a mixture of Alfalfa or California clover, the 

 common red clover, and a slight quantity of 

 red top — the greater proportion of the first 

 named. No real sward had been formed. 



The surface was exceedingly rough, no 

 roller having been used upon it, and there 

 were large numbers of small, loose stones scat- 

 tered over it. Besides, upon the rising 

 ground "mole hills" were plenty, and, as 

 every farmer knows, not to be avoided in 

 using the mowing machine. The clovers were 

 "crinkled" and interwoven, though of them- 

 selves, under ordinary circumstances, not diffi- 

 cult to cut. Add to this, that the ground had 

 been soaked by almost constant rains for sev- 

 eral davs and that a severe wind, accompanied 

 by a drifting rain, occurred during the trial, 

 and the reader will understand that the test 

 was not a light one. 



The field had been staked oflf into lots of 



equal dimensions, each contaim'ng § of a hec- 

 tare or about l.G.'j acres of parallelogram form, 

 tliough some of them differing in length. The 

 scythe had been used in dividing the lots from 

 each other and forming a path for the first 

 "through" of the machines. The assignment 

 of lots was made by drawing numbers in the 

 usual manner. In accordance with an order 

 from the jury, the machines with teams 

 attached, were arranged in front of the lots at 

 half past eleven o'clock. The following is a 

 list of the machines in competiton, in the order 

 in which they stood : 



No. 1 — Kearsley Mower, made bj' H. & G. Kearsley, 

 Kipon, JSngland. 2 wheel ; length of lut 4 feet. 



No. 2 — Pettier, Jr., Paris, France. 2 wheel; length of 

 cut 3 feet 6 inches ; one horse. 



No. 3 — Anglo-American, made by .James Howard, Bed- 

 ford, England. All iron; 2 wheel; length of 

 cut 4 feet 6 inches. 



No. 4 — Made by A. C. Bamlitt, Yorkshire, England. 



2 wheel ; cut 4 feet 6 inclies. 



No. 5 — Made by Sarauelson, Bar bury, England. Iron 



frame : 2 wheel; 4 feet cut. 

 No. 6 — Wood Machine, made by Walter A. Wood, 



Hoosick Falls, N. Y. 2 wheel ; cut 4 ft. 3 in 

 No. 7 — Made by Enler & Girand, Lyons, F'rance. Cut 



3 feet 6 inches. 



No. 8 — Lancashire Combined, made by Pixley & Sims, 

 Lancashire, Eng. Cut 4 it. 6 in. 



No. 9— Clipper, made by Allen & Son, N. Y. One 

 horse; (cut not ascertained.) 



No. 10 — Did not appear upon the field for some un- 

 known reason. 



No. 11 — Machine Morgan, Seymour & Morgan Patent, 

 made by Durand, Paris. Ciiubined, used reel; 

 cut not ascertained. 



No. 12 — Perry Mower, Ames Plow Company, Worces- 

 ter, Mass., manufacturers. Cut a fi. 9 in. Ex- 

 hibited by .John G. Perry, the inventor. 



No. 13 — A Wood Machine, made in Paris. Cut 4 ft. 



No. 14 — McCormick, Chicago, Illinois. Cut 4 It. 



No. 15 — Buckeye, Jr., maae at Berwick-upon-Tweed, 

 Scotland. Cut 4 ft. 



No. 16 — Wood Combined Machine, Hoosick Falls, N.Y. 



No. 17 — A French Machine, name and width of cut un- 

 ascertained. 



No. 18 — Wood Machine from Canada West. 



No. 19 — Made by Noel, Paris. Iron franie ; cut 4 feet 

 3 inches. 



At 12 o'clock 20 minutes, the machines, 

 from 1 to 7 inclusive, were ordered to start. 

 It was also directed that but one man should 

 accompany each machine, but this was not in- 

 sisted upon, and the owner or agent was per- 

 mitted to follow if he chose. When stopped 

 from ordinary causes, such as clogging with 

 grass, or foul sickle bar, the driver was al- 

 lowed to proceed again as quickly as possible, 

 but if stopped on account of breakage of any 

 of the parts, no machine was allowed to pro- 

 ceed until ordered to do so by a juryman. 



The contest, especially at the opening, was 

 an exciting one, alike to owners, operators 

 and spectators. Here were the chosen im- 

 plements of the world for this class of work. 

 It was nation against nation, and machine 

 against machine, for the highest honor that 

 could be awarded — the championship of the 

 world. He who entered the list unprepared, 

 or with an inferior implement, well knew that 

 his chance was not worth the trouble of com- 

 peting. The French machine No. 7, failed in 

 the first rod and was taken from the field. 

 One after another, Nos. 1, 2, and 4 came to a 



