AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
FOR THE 
Farm, GrarcLen, and. Household. 
“AGRICULTUKE IS THE MOST' HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, AND MOST NOISLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN.”— Wishinoton. 
ORANGE COMPANY, 
PUBLISHERS AND PROPRIETORS. 
Office, 245 BROADWAY. 
Entered according to Act of Congre 
ANY, ) 
ORS. > 
f. ) 
(TERMS: SI.50 PER ANNUM IN ADVANCE! 
APT TQTTFD TAT 1 QAO I 4 Copies for S3; 10 for $1:4; 40 or more. Si each; 
XjO X -L-Li lOtr^i j io Cents additional must be sent with eacli Sub* 
( scriptioa for postage. —Single Number, 13 Cents. 
s, in April, 1S78, by the Orange Judd Company, at the Office of the Librarian cf Congress, at Washington. 
VOLUME XXXVII. -No. 5. NEW YORK, MAY, 1878. NEW SERIES— No. 376. 
THE CHAMPION COMBINED MOWER AND SELF-RAKING REAPER. —Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Until recently, combined reapers and mowers 
have been considered unsatisfactory machines, and 
farmers have been to some extent prejudiced 
, against them. This has been unfortunate, because 
few farmers can afford to buy two machines to per¬ 
form two similar operations, when one could be 
made to serve the purpose. But after six years of 
successful work it has been proved that the me¬ 
chanical difficulties in the way of the effective 
operation of a combined machine have been van¬ 
quished by the manufacturers of the machine of 
which we give the above illustration. This is the 
Champion Combined Self-raking Reaper and Mow- 
£r, made at Springfield, Ohio. The character of the 
machine is readily apparent from the engraving, 
I and the full details, which show the reaping-ma¬ 
chinery added to the mower, are given on another 
page. At figure 1, on page 168, the mower is shown 
so clearly, that there can he no mistake about the 
parts, and at figure 2 the added apparatus is so 
shown, that the operation of the combined machine 
is equally clear. It is needless to say anything in 
regard to the reputation of the Champion machines. 
The name is familiar to every farmer, who has seen 
or heard of mowers and reapers, and the fact that 
35,000 of these machines are made annually in the 
workshops of the Company—the largest manufac¬ 
tory of agricultural implements in the world— 
evidences the estimation in which they are held. In 
regard to awards for excellence at exhibitions, the 
Champion machines have stood in the front rank of 
those exhibited. It took five first premium medals 
at the Centennial Exhibition, and an award of five 
diplomas for the finest exhibit in the Hall and for 
merit in the great field trial held in connection with 
the Centennial. At this trial the Champion machine 
recorded the remarkably light and hitherto unex¬ 
ampled draft of only 131 pounds. It also succeeded 
in cutting perfectly grass that had been beaten and 
laid by storms, and in addition, to make the test 
more severe, had been flattened by a heavy roller 
drawn over it. No severer test than this could be 
imagined. As a reaper it cuts the grain success¬ 
fully, although it may be laid and tangled in the 
worst manner, and delivers it in good and even 
gavels ready for binding. These two important 
operations are accomplished equally well, and the 
change from mower to reaper or back again can be 
made with ease in twenty minutes. Clover-seed and 
flax may also be successfully harvested with it. 
The catalogues of makers of first-class machinery 
are publications of high excellence, and serve a 
purpose beyond mere advertising. To this the 
catalogue describing the Champion is no excep¬ 
tion, as the machine is shown in action in its va¬ 
rious combinations and positions, including its ap¬ 
pearance on the road, while every detail of ma¬ 
chinery is given with such distinctness and accu¬ 
racy, that one at all acquainted with mechanics 
can, by a study of the catalogue, understand 
the construction of the machine, and form an 
opinion of its working in the field, almost as well, 
as from an actual inspection of the thing itself. 
