354 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 



do with less food, but that the natural tendency 

 is to seek substitutes for dear flour. We are 

 free to say, that in our opinion, the true amount 

 of the annual production and consumption of 

 •wheat, is of vastly more importance to be cor- 

 rectly known, than the production and con- 

 sumption of cotton. — New York Daily Tribune. 



THE REAPING MACHINE AS AN IMPLE- 

 MENT OF PKACTICAL UTILITY. 

 The judges' award over the adjourned trial of 

 the reapers is of rather a Delphic character. — 

 The Romans may conquer you, or you may con- 

 quer the Romans. Crosskill may at first sound 

 better than Dray, though for its especial object 

 Dray may yet be "the best machine.'' For 

 years now have we thus been ringing the chan- 

 ges. At first Crosskill's Bell is indisputably to 

 be preferred ; then Mr. Dray has his turn with 

 his improvement on Hussey ; and for a third 

 season, after all the deliberate consideration of 

 an adjourned trial. Burgess and Key's McCor- 

 mick is unhesitatingly declared to be superior 

 to all others. This is certainly rather - perplex- 

 ing, though at the same time the deduction to be 

 made is sufficiently encouraging. If Bell's ma- 

 chine was good enough to take a prize on the 

 first trial, of course Dray's must be an improve- 

 ment to supersede it. McCormick by the same 

 reasonable showing is still further in advance ; 

 and now Mr. Crosskill, after lying off for a time 

 comes out again and wins the fourth heat with 

 an implement — excellent in its original design, 

 at lenc;;th perfected to something more excellent 

 still. 



Curiously enough, however, any such conclu- 

 sion is but a false one, after all. Either the ex- 

 hibitors or the puljlic would not appear to be in 

 the way of profiting much l)y this adjourned 

 trial at Boxted. The judges divide fifty pounds 

 as near as they well can amongst three entries, 

 toning down any effect that may follow placing 

 a first, by adding that the one they mention only 

 in a third degree is yet for rea])ing the best of 

 all. The would-be customer scratches his head 

 in no little doubt and perplexity — What is best, 

 or which ought he to have? The answer again 

 is but an echo of the oracle, "I say that 

 Crosskill and Burgess and Key are to be prefer- 

 red, but that Dray is the best reaping machine." 

 But this is not all. Clever men like these ma- 

 kers have no doubt been continually watching 

 each other ; and thus, gaining a wrinkle here 

 and smoothing an objection there, have all grad- 

 ually crept on to something like equal ability 

 and perfection. Curiously enough, again, this 

 is but another as erroneous a supposition : " The 

 judges regret to observe that very little improve- 

 ment has been made in this class of machines 

 since last year." 



What is the farmer to do ? His crops want 

 harvesting, labour is scarce, and indirectly — for 

 it comes very much to this — there is no machin- 

 ery that he can trust to. Get over as he may 

 this present time, for these adjourned trials come 



far too late to be of any immediate service, what 

 is he to look forward to or order for another oc- 

 casion ? We really hardly know how to advise 

 lilm. The Boxted Commission report with very 

 flint praise; although, according to all reports, 

 the implements wowld seem to have worked very- 

 well indeed. Let us grant, still, that the reap- 

 ing niachine is not as yet perfection ; but a more 



pressing point by far for our consideration is 



is it. fit for usef Could the farmer with any 

 confidence call in its aid in his present difficul- 

 ty? Under ordinary circumstances and fair 

 play, not exactly always opposed to wet weather 

 and laid crops, would the experiment promise to 

 answer ? 



Fortunately the Royal Agricultural Society 

 itself can |,nswer for us. Almost simultaneous- 

 ly with the appearance of this official award of 

 the judges, comes the new number of the Jour- 

 nal. We have had little opportunity as yet to 

 study its more elaborate essays. There is, how- 

 ever, one short paper that speaks so well and so 

 directly to this matter, that he would at once 

 call attention to it. Mr. Anthony Hamond with 

 some very valuable and recent experience during 

 his three years' service as a steward of imple- 

 ments, is requested by the Chairman of the 

 Journal Committee to give, more especially, his 

 experience of the reaping machine. Mr. Ham- 

 ond replies in this wise — " I have great pleasure 

 in doing so. I think I may fairly say it has noio 

 attained that degree of "perfection lohich entitles 

 it to he classed amongst implements of real prac- 

 tical utility r 



The growers of grain will join in with a very 

 energetic ''Hear, hear/^ over this. But this is 

 not all. Mr. Hamond's is something more than 

 an opinion. It is thus he proceeds to his prac- 

 tice: "At the Lincoln nteeting I purchased an 

 improved Hussey, by Dray, with tipping board. 

 This I have used for two harvtsts, entirely to my 

 satisfaction. It has not required twenty shill- 

 ings in repairs, and is now ready to go to work 

 at half an hour's notice. The first year I cut 

 about a hundred and fifty acres of wheat, oats, 

 and rye ; the second, a hundred and fifty acres 

 of wheat, besides oats and rye." 



Mr. Hamond next explains how he works the 

 machine, and at what cost : interesting particu- 

 lars, to which our readers can easily refer, but 

 for which we have not space. He concludes his 

 letter, dated from Westacre, in May last, by say- 

 ing that he "hopes to go to M^ork next harvest 

 with tAvo Hussey 's stern-deliveries, and one Bur- 

 gess and Key's side-delivery. The mowing of 

 barley by the latter at Mr. Miles' last year was 

 very near perfection." 



Another correspondent of the Journal intro- 

 duces Mr. Parrington, of Lazenby, who express- 

 es his "entire satisfaction" with the perform- 

 ance of Burgess and Key's M'Cormick : — " I 

 have cut with it autumn and spring-sown wheat, 

 varying in yield from thirty-two to forty bushels 

 per acre, some of it much lodged ; also a very 

 heavy crop of oats, so much laid and twisted in 



