47 



185 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



**7 



i 



cost 



It i- 



w i i ie s: lied the best authorities, would have been the 



Si Dtrnelv, 4 feet parallel drains in the line of greatest 



* nt a t* intervals governed by the tenacity of the 



M| It is probable, from hi* lordship's description of 

 A* soil, that 4 feet drains at 33 feet distances, and a ™ ef 

 ■J^i YQs. per acre would have been effectual.* 

 *! that his lordship's error has been to draw infor- 

 mation as to his draining wholly from his own experi- 

 »n<l by his own showing, he has been learning 

 from his' failures. He first tried 3 feet drains at 

 tl feet and at 30 feet distances ; next 37 feet draius at 

 and 3ti feet distances, and then 4 feet drains at 

 tt feet, 43 feet, and 54 feet distances. None of these 

 ^tperinients proved satisfactory, and in singular con- 

 tradiction to the principles he lays down, he finishes 

 jrith 4 feet drains 18 to 20 yards apart, combined with 

 intermediate 2 feet drains, at 8 yards distance, crossing 

 Ibe s lope into 4 feet drains. 



It would not be too much to assume that some, at 

 least, of the partial failures described may have arisen 

 from the want of more practical knowlege in the over- 

 seer of the work, seeing that his lordship took the onus 

 of the superintendence ; for in not a few instances have 

 figures, attributed in the first instance to too great 

 depth, been detected to arise from the faulty execution of 

 the work, wrong direction of the lines, imperfect levels, 

 irregular cutting, negligence in laying the pipes, fraud, 

 &c. and it will at once appear to our readers how much 

 in this respect his lordship's draining, from his own 

 showing, has been exposed to those causes of failure. 



Were the removal of surface water the only end 

 aou<dit in draining, and could we suppose drains laid 

 enlv 2 feet from the surface equally durable and out of 

 harm's way, with drains laid further from all disturbance 



deep drains in removing surface water, a • hi 



temperature given to clay soils by deep draining, are an- 



ill 1 ■ » ■ • • • 



» v m J, 



answerably shown, whilst experience is every when 1 

 affording the test of the principle. The shallow* draining 

 advocated by Lord Wharncliffe has now become th 



ception, not the rule, and is in fact fast disappear 

 before the experience of the greater efficiency of deept 



drr "~*"~ 



?• 



Lord Wharncliffe has gone to work, as is too often 

 the case with land-mviiers in their agricultural improve- 

 ments, witli a very imperfect conception of the end in 

 view, and with no sett ed plan ; and having relied for 

 information from his own experience, he has erred 

 throughout, more or less, and will pay the penalty in 

 the imperfection of his work. As his lordship has put 

 forth his own imperfect practice as a guide for others, I 

 feel bound to assure those interested in the subject that 

 there is much more in the philosophy of drainin than 

 will be discovered in merely making mistakes, lltxcitt 

 Davis. 3, 1 dervh'8'vlace. Old Jewn/« London, Oc . _1. 



£ could 



if 



ot the surface, and equally active in laying the land 

 jry with deeper drains, his lordship's side-draining 

 would only be open to the serious objections which 

 always apply to draining across the fall, and to the waste 

 of money which his plan involves in double draining 

 the space aside the upright drains, from which the latter 

 take the water (objections in themselves sufficient to 

 upset all he has said in their favour) ; but in draining 

 there should be other views, which happen to have been 

 altogether lost sight of ; namely, we should seek to give 

 to vegetation the fertilising matter which is left behind 

 ia the perfect filtration of the water, and the advantages 

 of higher temperature, and greater depth of soil for the 

 roots to extend into — objects which are only to be 

 attained by going deeper. Nor is this all; for whilst 

 these benefits are to be gained only by deeper 

 drains, the cost of really efficient draining on this 

 principle is less than on the plan recommended ; and 

 even were it not so, the addition of 175. Id. per acre to 

 the cost would be a consideration inestimably small in 

 comparison with the advantages attaching to the greater 

 perfection of a consistent and permanent principle of 

 drainage. 



Lord Wharncliffe has evidently been draining under 

 the impression, natural to inexperience, that surface- 

 water will not reach 4 feet drains, and that it is ne- 

 cessary to have drains for both the top and bottom 

 water, in other words, he must have two holes in his 

 granary for his cats, a big one for the mother and a 

 lesser for the kitten — he will have 4 feet drains for the 

 bottom water and 2 feet for the surface, not seeing 

 that drains drawing off water at a level of 4 feet, must 

 take that water from above, and lay the ground above 

 them the drier, and in so doing give vent to water still 

 higher, and thus produce those shrinkings and fissures 

 in the soil whieh eventually afford all the vents 

 necessary to let down the water from the 

 surface.f His views are in accordance with the 





xploded use of pipes below and stones above, once 

 thought necessary to give admission to the surface and 

 bottom water, and which has led to such waste of money. 

 I would refer his lordship to Mr. Meclu s letters, where 

 he speaks of his experience in draining, and to the 

 Report of the Lords' Committee on Draining, in 1849, 

 where he will find instances of 8Z., 1*2/., and even 191. 

 per acre having been expended to secure the imaginary 

 advantages which are misleading him. In an article of 

 this nature it is impossible sufficiently to enter into the 

 isasoninic in support of principles which even Lord 

 Wharnciifte admits to be correct. There are works in 

 *hichthis is most convincingly done,and to which I would 

 refer every one who has draining to do ; I have alluded to 

 the "Reports of the Lords' Committee on Draining f* 

 1 would also particularly refer to the « Essays on 

 foe Philosophy and Art of Land Drainage, by Mr. 

 Josiah Parkes," the little work " Agricultural Drain- 

 age," from the Quarterly Review, No. 171, and to the 

 "Report of the Commissioners of the Metropolitan 

 Sewers, 1851." In all these the greater efficiency of 



* His lord hip sa>s, "our usual payment for cutting and 

 filing per rood of 7 yards upon an average ot too mattock or 

 spade work in sood or bad ground, barriug hard stone, has 

 "? e n Is. 3d." Ndw in my experience in the stiffest clays in the 

 kingdom the wages of late years have seldom exceeded 8<i. the 

 *°<1 of 5J yards, and have latterly been as low as ikl. I have 

 Jfraiuins executing at tbia time for Id. and . \d. in the 

 h *rd Wealden and the London clays, where beds of stone or 



r*el are not unfrequent, and where the men look to getting 

 *d. per day • but certainly labourers look for higher pay 

 *&en they have n .blemen for masters, and in this instance his 



THE AMERICAN REAPING MACHINE AT 



NEWCASTLE 



The machine was first put into operation at Whorl- 

 ton, in a field of Oats. The crop was rather a light on* 

 and the nature of the ground, comj I as it was of 

 high ridges and deep furrows, was not the best suited 

 most effectively to exhibit the capabilities of the 

 machine ; but, on being set in motion, it was it 1 appa- 

 rent that it was well adapted for the work to be 

 executed. When moving abng level ground parallel 

 to the ridge, the crop was admirably cut. but th 

 machine having to pass over many of the ridges diago- 

 nally, in those parts the cutting was uneven. After a 

 short trial at Mr. Robson's field, the macl was re- 



moved to a Wheat field on the farm of Mr. Nicholson, 

 of Lough House, and there its performance was much 

 more satisfactory. A portion of the Wheat had boon 

 cut by sickle, aud, as usual, a great number of heads 

 were left for " gleauers." A quarter of an acre havin 

 been measured off, the machine was put in operation 

 on it, and the grain was cut in nine minutes, w h short 

 stubble, and remar bly clean, presentii a atrikin 

 contrast to the other portion of the field. But, as being 

 preferable to our own opinion, we subjoin that of the 

 committee of the Fanners' Club, which was drawn up 

 after careful deliberation, and conveyed in the folio wi 



report : 



We, the undersigned committee of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne 

 Farmers* Club, appomted at a meeting held on S rday. the 

 20ih inst. at the Club Room, in the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society, to report the revolt of a trial, made this day, of 

 MeO >rmick't> rasping machine, met fur that pin »se at Ea*t 

 Whorl too, afa«m belonging 10 his Grace the Dukfl of North- 

 umberland, in the occupation sf Mr, Ridded It a b son, and beg 

 to lav before you the conclusion* at which we arrived. 



The fir-t trial was ma«l* on a rather lijhtcrop of Oats; the 

 ridges of the field were hi-h, and the forri»WaOOrref|Kmdirgl> 

 deep ; notwithstanding these di^adranta^fs, however, the work 

 was equal to the expectations of the committee. 



A second trial was made in a held belonging: to T. H. 

 Graham. Eeq., occupied by Mr. Nicholson, hearing an average 

 crop of Wheat. A portion was measured off, and exceedingly 

 wefl cut, at the rate of an acre in 40 minute?. 



The committee mai state, generally, tint the crop leaning to 

 the machine or standing upright, was cut low and qirckly, 

 mid that scarcely an ear ofjCorn was ungatbert-rt to tLe .sheaf; 

 where the corn, however, was much lai< r twisted, the opera- 

 tion of the machine was not certainly so efficient, and p^rhap 

 no piece of machinery C8n, nnderthebe circumstances, be ex- 

 pected to compete with the 6ickle. 



William Stevenson, Throckiey House. 



Joseph Laycock, Ltnti Hall. 

 William Nixon, Union Hall. 

 John E. Wilkinson, Dunston Lodge. 

 Hugh Taylor, Cramlin^ton. 

 Sept. 22, 1851. William Cloves, non. Sec. 



Various descriptions of the machine have been pub- 

 lished, but only an inspection can enable any one to 

 form a correct estimate of its merits and capabilities. 

 The machine consi ! of a platform, to the front of 

 which the cutting apparatus is at ched, and what is 

 called a reel, composed of four planks or flappers, about 

 6 feet in length and 10 inches in width, set askew, con- 

 nected at their extremities, at equal distances, by a 

 hoop-shaped frame, and having some resemblance to the 

 paddles of a steamer. The whole rests upon two wheels 

 of small diameter, but of considerable width. From 

 one of these the motion is produced, by the aid of cog 

 and crank wheels. The machine is drawn by two 

 horses, harnessed outside the platform by a pole, and 

 driven by a man mounted on a seat behind them. 

 Another man sits astride on a part of the framing, with 

 his back to the horses ; and, with a strong rake, throws 

 off the corn as it falls on the platform. In front of the 

 platform project a number of halbert-shaped forks of 

 iron, about 4 inches in length, with spaces of 1 \ inch 

 between, across and within which spaces a set of hori- 

 zontal lancet-shaped blades, with edges serrated like 

 the old reaping hook, are driven by a crank wheel, 

 which produces a rapid oscillating motion, by which the 



As the machine is drawn forward 



I ated mtcliMi in the 



trial of the machine which too iieeon Mo: , its 

 success was. in t opinion of near*; wery 



inner present, eompl It cut e> « rything I :, 



leaving not a single ear behind. Tins was as ill 

 remar] ble in the fi I of Wheat. The stul 

 perfectly level, and cleaner than the ne: ral i w 

 make it. The com was thrown upon the \ r,n ] 

 the flappers in the best possible order for t\ ing up ; and 

 it was delivered upon the ground in the same state by 

 the man who raked it off, with ;reat skill and rqgu 

 larit.y. We must not be understood to mean it will 



cut corn upon all descriptions of land, and under all cir 

 cumstanc Our observations ply to that p n of 

 the Wheat field whieh was measured off, and whie.h liad 

 the advantage of 1 ing level. When the cr« is laid or 

 twi.M I, the machine will not work so well until some 



contrivance is introduced for lifting the c 1 and pre- 

 senting it to the knivi But its ] performance, e\ 1 ia 

 hose spots which wen twialed, aj in others which 

 artificially pressed down for the purpose of :*£ t, 



was satisfactory. All the orn which was laid shout 



towards the knives, or laid lidewi 1 from them, was as 



well cut as by hand : though, when laid direct) \ fi 

 the knives, it was imperfectly < t. 



Of the general sm-cvSi ot the exp<'rUMHt tie re can bo 

 no doubt. There never was an af. cultural <len t 

 which on its first exlrib n obtained the approval 

 practical fanners so generally as this has « ie. It is 

 c Mainly, as Mr. Tuseylias observed in the late number 

 of the Journal of the Royal ;ricnltuml Sociity, ' ho 

 most important a ion to far ug mi> n< rj that lias 

 been invented since the threshing machine first tool 

 place of the flail." The cost of Mr M rn 1 ieaf | 

 machine is 28/. There is nothing in it- n atonal or con- 

 struction to warrant so high a prise ; but the im enter* 

 no doubt, is entitled to a 1 vard for his ingomtt. W« 

 may, however, si jest for his coorffafttion that tl. 

 cu -m of the million at a moderate priee may be moro 

 profitable than tliat of tin- hundred large farmers at an 



immoderate one. 



The American reaping machine, which lias thus burst 

 upon us with so ^reat an effect from the other t a of 

 tin Ulan tic is, strictly speaking, no novelty in <k 1 or 

 principle. There have been several, of 1 manufac- 



ture, brought before the British public, and i • «OOft 



forgot 11. The first was .made by Mr. B ce y • 



lie obtained :i patent for if ; it cut corn close to tln> 



round, by a scythe fixed to a horissiital spindle ; but as 

 there was no provision for gathering np the corn in 

 parcels, it was regarded as a Gailure. Some years after- 

 wards, Mr. riunkett, a London machine maker, 

 attempted to improve this machine by substituting for 

 the scythes a circular steel ] late, made \ sharn at 

 the edge, and knotehed at the upper side like a sickle ; 

 this plate acted in the same manner as a fine- toot bed saw, 

 and was found to cut the corn better than the s- ihesof 

 original machine. Mr. Gladstones, of Casilc Douglas, 

 next tried his hand. He constructed a ma. me in 





" u u:aaet.6lUuahiH 4 feet drams continue wu'^«»m" » «■»-«•- 

 jaunottake from a lower level, they can only draw trom a 

 «gber; the water which his lordship admits his deep drains 

 *je constantly discharging must be taken tmm above the 1 vei 

 of hia deep drains, and be thus kept from aecmmiilatitijr in the 

 Mfccehetwseu the surface and his drain*. The shadow di auiers 

 *Ppear not to know that except in the case of tapping springs, 

 "fains can only draw downwards. 



cutting is effected. 



by the horses, the reel revolves, and the nappers 

 descending upon the corn draws it between the pro- 

 jecting forks, which serve to compress it, wale the 

 knives or saws, also set in motion by a crank wheel 

 attached to the bearing wheel, easily cut it, and the re- 

 volving motion of another flapper throws it W a sheaf 

 upon the platform, whence it is immediate y removed 

 by the raker to make way for another. The machine 

 presents a front of about fij feet to the corn, and 

 that breadth is consequently cut as it advances. Ine 

 horses pass along the edge of the com. without coming 

 in contact with it. They appear to find the work mo de- 

 rate, though the machine cuts at the rate of an acre and 

 a half per hour. The machine is free from anything 



principle similar to Mr. Plaokett'a, but made it work 

 much better by introducing a circular table, with s ^ 

 wooden teeth notched below all round, which was fixed 

 immediately over the cutter and parallel to it. The use 

 of these teeth was to collect the com and retain it u I 

 it was operated on by the circular cutter. The corn, 

 when cut. was received upon this table, and when a 

 sufficient quantity was coll ted, taken away by a rake 

 or sweeper, and laid upon the ground, beneath the 

 machine, in separate parcels. Of th machine a 

 irawing and description appear in the 7th vol. of the 

 Farmers' M ^zine, p. 273. The next attempt was by 

 Mr. Robert Salmon, of Woburn, Bedfordshire* He cut 

 the corn bv means of shears. Its best feature was tliat 

 it was provided with a complete apparatus for laying 

 down the grain ill parcels as it was cut. Mr. Smith, of 

 the Deanston Cotton Works, Perthshire, next came into 

 the field. In the harvest of 181 1 he tried a machine on 

 I a small scale, worked by two men. In 1812 he made 

 I another whieh was worked by one horse; but though 

 he cut several acres of Oats, it was found that the horse 

 could not move the machine on an acclivity with effect. 

 In 1813 and 1814 he made other trials and employed two 

 horses. An engraving of this machine is given in the 

 '2nd vol. of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," from which 

 we extract the following description : 



* The cutter ot this machine is circular and operate* horizon. 

 tftllT • it is appended to a drum conoected with the fore part 

 of the machine, its blades pmjeetiftg some inches beyond the 



ripbery of ttie lower end of the drum ; and the rnaenme u 

 so constructed as to communicate, in moving forward (too 

 horses impel and walk in the wake of the machine quite clear 

 of the grain), a rapid rotary motion to this drum and Cutter, by 

 which the tta'k* are cut, *od failing upon the drum, are. 

 carried round and thrown off in regular rowf. This ingeni >u» 

 piece of machinery will cut about an English acre per hour, 

 during which time the cutter requires to be sharpened four 

 times witi. a common seythe stone. The expense U estimated 

 at from 30 . to ML If properly managed it may last for many 

 years. We are sorry to learn th%t Mr. Smith has not f. id it 

 convenient to prosecute his invention." 



Mr Smith, however, did again bring it out in 1S37, 



In 1 , the Rev, 



but it did not come into general use. 

 Patrick Bell, A.M., tried a machine of 1 making, at 

 Gowrie, county of Forfar, cutting down Oats. Barfey, 

 and Wheat, on an uneven surface and a conaiderablo 

 declivity, taking a breadth of five feet at a time. The 

 stubble 'was left from three to four inches long ; and the 

 corn was deposited on the ground in a very regular 

 manner in the form of swathes ; worked by one horse ; 

 cost about 501. Mr. Stephens, in his Book of the Farm, 

 savs that by Bell's machine, corn may he cut at 6s. aa 

 acre, including binding and stook ing. There were other 

 machines. Stephens notices that of Mr. Joseph Mann, 



