118 
Report on Implements at Liverpool, and on 
routes the frontages are occupied bj modern villas, and the grand 
plain of rich agricultural land in fields upwards of twenty acres 
in size, does not come in view until a sudden turn of the road 
is reached. 
At this time the fields were full of grain-crop, a small portion 
of which only was in stook, and the large flats of oats and wheat 
caught the eye as the site of the trials. Grand green crops are 
scattered over the plain, while but few meadows were to be seen, 
arable culture with the Liverpool market at hand being the more 
profitable agriculture. The selected trial-ground was on the 
farm of Mr. W. Scotson, who occupies 450 acres, and who this 
year received a Medal from the Local Committee for the third 
best-managed farm, as described by Mr. ShirrifF in the last 
number of the ' Journal.' 
The state of the weather at this time was a matter of con- 
siderable anxiety, both to the Judges and the competitors. 
Much rain had fallen during the night, and some showers during 
the early morning, and at nine o'clock the sky was clouded and 
the atmosphere soft and murky. At ten o'clock, however, a 
breeze arose which to some extent dispelled the clouds, and the 
possibility of the trials proceeding, should no further showers 
intervene, became hopeful. At this time the straw of the crops 
was quite wet, and the ground soft and sticky. At eleven o'clock 
a great change had taken place, and the wheat, though not quite 
dry, was considered capable of being operated upon, at least in 
the preliminary trials Avhich it was necessary to give in order to 
enable the competitors to get their machines in perfect order for 
the test-trials, by which time it was thought that the trial-plots 
would be quite fit for cutting. The field of wheat was about 
40 acres in extent, and in the shape of a parallelogram, alongside 
of which was a narrow strip of 8 or 10 acres of permanent grass, 
which formed a convenient entrance-ground for the competing 
machines, and requisite space for the spectators. It also gave access 
to the actual trial-ground at any point in the whole length of the 
field during the whole progress of the trials. A portion from 
each end of the field having been cut off from the allotted trial- 
ground, the central or main part of the field was reserved for the 
operations of the Society. Taking the ends of the parallelogram 
to represent north and south, the trial-plot of wheat was divided 
into three separate portions of equal size by parallel lines running 
from east to west. The uppermost portion, or most northern 
one of these three divisions, was next subdivided into exact half 
acres by parallel roadways running from north to south, these 
minor roadways being only one swathe in width. The sectional 
roadways were made of sufficient width to allow the machines 
to turn conveniently without being interfered with by the rank- 
and-file of the spectators, who fringed the plots of corn in these 
