The Trials of Self -binding Harvesters at Chester. 707 
clean as not to permit of trials of a sufficiently crucial character. 
Had this been the case, judging would have been extremely 
difficult, because there is no doubt that, under such conditions, 
every one of the excellent machines sent for competition would 
at least have made very good work. 
But in our climate it seems to be the unexpected that always 
happens. July brought with it heavy rains and very broken 
weather with fine intervals, which continued until the trials 
were finished on Saturday, July 29. This happy change from 
scorching drought, altering as it did the whole face of the 
country as if by magic, also placed us in possession of all that 
we required for the carrying out of the trials, and yet, fortu- 
nately, did not prolong their duration. 
Thanks to the exertions and good judgment of our senior 
Steward of Implements, Mr. Samuel Rowlandson, the crops 
selected were very suitable, and were laid out to the best advan- 
tage. The oats and barley plots had each an area of three- 
quarters of an acre, whilst the wheat plots were each one acre 
in extent. 
On Tuesday, July 25, the Stewards, Judges, and Officials 
assembled at Blacon Point Farm, about one and a half mile from 
Chester, occupied by Mr. Thomas Smith, who — I may say in 
passing — gave us every assistance in his power. The land was 
a somewhat loose loam, by no means good travelling on foot, 
and likely to cause a heavy draught on the machines. It was 
much infested with moles, and to this cause a good many stops 
in the working of the machines were attributable. The plots 
were opened out in a fairly good crop of oats, heavy, and much 
laid in one part of the field ; this part, however, was not used 
in trials of which note was taken by the Judges. The remainder 
of the crop gave plots that afforded every opportunity for good 
work, the straw varying in length sufficiently to show the con- 
trol of the reel, and sometimes leaning in one direction, though 
not to an extent sufficient to cause bad work. No trial 
plots were cut on this day, but each of the machines had a 
short run to see that everything was in working order. The 
remainder of the day was spent in examining details of con- 
struction. 
On Wednesday, July 2G, the trials had been publicly 
announced to begin at 9 o’clock, and shortly before this hour 
the Stewards, Judges, and Engineers were in the field, and also 
a considerable number of interested spectators. 
Each of the exhibitors claimed to work his machines with 
two horses and one man, and all used Manilla twine. 
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