666 JlrpoTt on the Trials of Implements at Taunton, 
Class V. — Hokse-Eakes, kot Self-acting. 
These machines were tried in the same manner and by thi 
same Judges as the self-acting rakes, on the 7th July, with th< 
alteration of the points of merit as under : — 
1. Mechanical construction and workmanship, with soundness 
and qualitjf of materials 250 
2. Simplicity and lightness, combined with strength .. .. 100 
3. Shape and capacity of rake teeth, with their mode of 
attachment 100 
4. Mode of adjusting teeth to snit various kinds of work .. 100 
5. Perfection of work done 200 
6. Price 50 
800 
Nineteen machines came to trial, manufactured by 11 makers. 
The Judges reported that the only rakes which really worked 
efficiently were those manufactured by Nicholson and Son, 
and they believe they cannot speak too highly of them. They 
showed none of that nasty scratching action which many other 
machines had, but they glided nicely under the hay, more upon 
the heel of the foot than the toe, collected the hay without any 
disposition to roll, and delivered the load freely. The Judges, 
therefore, gave them the following awards : — 
First Prize of 15?., to \V. N. Nicholson and Son (1034), of Newark-on- 
Trent. 
Second Prize of 10?., to W. N. Nicholson and Son (1033), of Newark-on- 
Trent. 
Highly Commended, W. N. Nicholson and Son (1035), of Newark-on- 
Trent. 
NicJiohcn's Horse-rake, not Self-acting, No. 1034. — It is not necessary to 
give a full drawing of so well-known an implement as a Horse-rake, as so 
many of them vary but little in general appearance. It is, however, im- 
portant to allude to a few particulars in the First-Prize Implement. 
Fig. 37 A represents the exact shape of the tooth, of which there are 
twenty-eight, made of English spring-steel, termed double-headed; a full-sized 
section of a tooth is given in Fig. 37 C, and a plan of the hand" in Fig. 37 B. 
This hand, or jiart by which the rake-head is attached to the rod by which 
the teeth are drawn, is a more important part in a rake than might at first 
sight appear, as it freqiiently happens that a tooth becomes loose, and conse- 
quently two of them rake nearly in the same line, and leave too great a 
space between the next two. The hand is of cast iron, and ought to be of 
soimd material, to allow the pin, which is machine-made and slightly tapered, 
to be driven very tiglitly through it, closely filling iip a groove made in that 
part of the tooth, and shown in Fig. 37 A by dotted lines. The length of the I 
tooth, which thus becomes rigid by the pin being well driven into the hand, 
tends to prevent too much play. The teeth in this rake work in coujjlcs, o 
the same principle as the self-acting rake-teeth by the same makers. All tli 
teeth upon the horse-rakes by these makers are cither partially or wholl\ 
<:ouj)lcd. 
