400 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



Aug. 



halt. As yet No. 6 (the Wood) kept on its 

 way, sending back its rapid, musical "click, 

 click, click." Its team worked admirably; 

 the driver — a Yankee boy just out of his 

 "teens" — evidently knew his business to per- 

 fection. At last however, a mole hill on the last 

 half of the first swath caused this also to stop, 

 for cleaning. One after another the others 

 toiled on, stopping sometimes from an ill bro- 

 ken team, clogging with the wet grass, (for a 

 shower had set in,) or from the more serious 

 obstructions met with in the mole hills. The 

 Wood and Howard machines approached the 

 farther end quite closely together, the former 

 having stopped but once, finally coming out 

 ahead, in eleven minutes from the time of 

 starting. The Howard halted near the end, 

 while the Wood proceeded on its return trip 

 in good style, i-eaching "home" with two short 

 stoppages and before any other had completed 

 a swath. The round trip was made in 20 min- 

 utes. A second round was made in 14 min- 

 utes, with three slight halts. At this time the 

 Howard was in its first return swath, and No. 

 4, the Bamlitt, had completed its first, with 

 No. 2 nearly out and No. 5 about half way 

 across. The Howard completed its first round 

 trip in 43 minutes, at which time the AVood 

 had accomplished four rounds, the third being 

 made in I'd minutes, and the last in still less 

 time. With the exception ofthe Wood and 

 Howard it was very evident no satisfactory 

 results could be expected from the machines 

 in this division The others were floundering 

 along at various distances, some on the first 

 and others on their second swaths. Finally 

 the Howard seemed to come to a "dead halt ;" 

 the Wood, occasionally making stops to clean 

 its sickle bar, kept steadily on its way. 



At 1 o'clock l5 minutes, the second division, 

 consisting of machines from 8 to 14 inclusive, 

 was ordered to advance, the jury leaving the 

 first division to itself for the time. These ma- 

 chines mov(jd toward the middle of the field 

 with more uniformity than the first, yet sev- 

 eral of them were soon seen to halt. Each 

 stopped at the rough ground at the farther 

 end ; the Perry and McCormick however, be- 

 ing very soon upon the move. There was 

 but a trifle of difference in the time at which 

 these two machines completed the first swath. 

 The Seymour & IMorgan was next to them and 

 the Allen (one horse) the fourth in the list. 

 The Perry started first upon the home stretch. 

 (It should here be stated that the lots on 

 which the last three machines of this division 

 were operated were about ^ longt-r tlian those 

 ofthe first division.) The McCornuck passed 

 the Perry in the return, completing its first 

 round in 17 minutes. It started back, carry- 

 ing the colors of its division. I'he Perry, 

 very soon out, met with an accident in turn- 

 ing at the end. The horses attached to this 

 machine were unused to the work, mettlesome 

 and unsteady. Tlie driver, excited, could not 

 manage them well in the crowd that stood at 



the starting point. He failed to raise the cut- 

 ter bar, and the dividing board or "track 

 clearer" catching in a deep rut, was broken 

 asunder at the point where attached to the 

 bar. The breakage was without remedy, and 

 the jurymen present at the time, allowed the 

 machine to proceed upon its work as it best 

 might. The inventor evidently feared it could 

 not do its usual work, but ordered it on. It 

 completed its second round in advance of all 

 the others of its division — the two rounds oc- 

 cupying but 20 minutes. The last swath was 

 cut the entire length without a stop, a feat ac- 

 complished by no other machine during the 

 day. The McCormick, during this time, was 

 working well, and the Seymour & Morgan evi- 

 dently third in this division contest. 'I'he lit- 

 tle Clipper kept on its way pretty well, but 

 cut high, the knives evidently being raised for 

 fear of breakage. 



Turning our attention again to the first di- 

 vision, we find about the same relative work 

 accomplished as at the time we left them, with 

 the exception that the Howard, meeting with 

 frequent obstructions it had not the power to 

 overcome, had fallen farther behind the Wood. 

 We see also that the latter is about complet- 

 ing its lot, and is a great centre of attraction. 

 At precisely 1 o'clock 54 minutes, the last 

 clip was taken, and your humble correspond- 

 ent involuntarily grasped the operator by the 

 hand and shouted for America. 



At this juncture all the other machines of 

 this division were ordered from the field, the 

 committee seemingly satisfied with what they 

 had seen. The wind and rain now became 

 more severe, and the Perry mower, unable to 

 clear its break, failed to operate satisfactorily 

 and was withdrawn by its owner upon being 

 assured that a new trial, with a new machine, 

 was granted him the next day, the jury very 

 justly considering the breaking no fault of the 

 invention. The McCormick kept well up to 

 its work, making quite satisfactory progress. 

 The others of the second division were work- 

 ing rather indifferently. 



At two o'clock seventeen minutes, the 3d 

 division — the balance of the machines — was 

 ordered to work. Owing to the storm, or 

 some other cause best known to the jury, they 

 were kept at work but a very few minutes — 

 none of them showing execution superior to 

 that already done, and tlie best of them being 

 of the same manufacture as already tried. 

 With these, all but the McCormick were or- 

 dered to stop work. The last mentioned kept 

 on, finishing its lot at 3 o'clock 50 minutes, 

 being 2 hours and 35 minutes at work. 



Thus ended the first day's trial of mowers 

 at the (irand Exhibition, with America as the 

 clianij)ion among nations, and tlie Wood, Mc- 

 Cormick and Perry, at the head ofthe Ameri- 

 can machines here represented. 



Further trial was postponed till the trial of 

 reapers, some time in July. 



