300 
Hussey's leaping machine, -ns -v york farmers’ club. 
designed, the horse should indicate it. He will 
never take his food from the ground when he can at 
the same time get it on a level with his mouth, stand¬ 
ing naturally. If the manger be low, the horse will 
i;et into and frequently ruin it, and as frequently in¬ 
jure himself. It should, however, not be too high, 
as he will feed with difficulty. A medium is three* 
an 1-a-lialf feet, and for the most of horses, perhaps 
this is the best height. 
The- manger should have a depth of fifteen inches. 
If it be shallow, the horse will throw his food out >n 
eating; and if two kinds be fed at the same time, He 
will waste it attempting to get that which is most 
palatable. If the manger be shallow it should have 
iron bars across the top, just wide enough apart to 
admit the horse’s muzzle. By these the food will be 
saved from being wasted. It is, however, always 
better to have the manger deep. 
Mangers should always be made very strong, 
especially when the horse is to be fastened to them. 
It is only necessary, however, to fasten the horse to 
the manger when it fills the whole width of the stall, 
and not even then if the head wall has any strength. 
The upper edge of the rranger should be thick, and 
should be covered with tin or sheet iron, that the 
horse may not chew it. 
Mangers and racks should always be made of hard 
wood, if wood be used; and the boards should be of 
a very good quality, without knots, cracks, or holes. 
Where iron is used for the manger, the rungs of the 
racks should be of iron. .When the rungs are of 
wood, they should be of the very best, and should 
be split, not sawed, as less liable to break. 
The different cuts we have given in the several last 
numbers fully illustrate all the kinds of racks and 
mangers in use; and we trust we have given suffi¬ 
cient general hints to enable any one to construct 
stalls of a proper kind. We shall take up the other 
details of stables in our future numbers. 
HUSSEY’S REAPING MACHINE. 
A friend of ours being at Geneva, in this State, the 
past summer, heard of the successful operation of Mr. 
Hussey’s reaper at Oaklands, near by, the farm of 
John Delafield, Esq., and had the curiosity to go out 
and see it. We were so pleased with his account of 
it, that agreeably to our request he has furnished us 
the following memorandum of it, and its operations. 
This machine was made by Mr. Obed Hussey, of 
Baltimore, Maryland. The first cost was $100, and 
the freight to Geneva about $10. It is worked by 
two horses with ease, requiring one man to attend the 
machine, and a boy to drive. I think it will cut 
twenty acres per day, or more, though Mr. Delafield 
has not exceeded seventeen acres as he did not work 
the reaper more than nine hours any one day. The 
advantages derived from its use are, the expedition of 
harvesting the crops, the small number of men neces¬ 
sary to employ, and the clean and even surface in 
which stubble is left. The straw also is gathered in 
better condition, which is a matter of some considera¬ 
tion. That the economy of the machine may be bet¬ 
ter understood, the following statement is subjoined 
of harvesting Mr. Delafield’s wheat crop of 104 acres. 
The reaping machine cut the whole in eight days, 
equal to an average of thirteen acres per day. He 
estimates the cost as follows :— 
1 Man and team - - $1 50 
1 Boy to drive, - - 50 
$2 00 per day, 
which for 8 days is -, $16 00 
Add interest on cost of the machine 1 year 7 00 
Cost of cutting 104 acres of wheat by- 
machine,.$23 00 
If the same had been cradled, and supposing 
the average quantity per man, per day, to be about 
two acres, it would require six cradles to cut 101 acres 
in eight days. At 13 acres per day the cost of six 
cradles, including board and lodging, at $1 50 per 
day, is $72. This shows a gain of $49 in favor of 
the machine. If, however, farmers employ men who 
day after day can cradle more than two acres per day, 
the estimate can readily be made in accordance with 
the greater manual power. It would seem that the 
usual quantity may be assumed at two acres per day 
for continued labor. In addition, we may estimate 
that six cradles would require nine rakers and bind¬ 
ers; whereas the machine thus far has required but 
seven followers, making a saving of two men at $1 
each, is $2 per day, which for eight days gives $16 in 
favor of the machine. If these calculations are cor¬ 
rect, it will be perceived that Mr. D. saved $65 in 
harvesting his wheat crop alone. 
Since the in-gathering of the wheat, we understand 
he has used the machine for cutting oats and flax. 
The farmers for many miles around Geneva came to 
examine the machine while at work, and were all 
surprised at the rapidity and neatness of its execu¬ 
tion ; but above all, the facility with which it cuts the 
lodged grain, leaving nothing in the fields to be gleaned, 
which is another great advantage in its use. To con¬ 
clude, Mr. D. thinks the inventor, Mr. Hussey, is en¬ 
titled to high credit for his ingenious machine. It is 
simple, strongly made, and effective. 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB. 
At the meeting Sept. 2d, some desultory conversa¬ 
tion first took place on the subject of the rot in pota¬ 
toes, from which we gathered nothing new. The 
best preparation for a wheat crop was then taken up. 
Mr. Townsend , of Astoria, said he plowed twice and 
harrowed four times, a quarter of an acre, for wheat. 
That piece gave upwards of seven bushels this year, 
equal to almost thirty bushels per acre. 
Mr. Selleclc —Was not lime used on the farm ? 
Mr. Starr —I have known one plowing do as 
well—but it was on rich soil. 
Mr. Townsend —Two years ago I had a field in 
which I had grown corn—cut off the stalks—leaving 
the stumps in the fields; this field I plowed—splitting 
the hills, I harrowed it well—so that the field pre¬ 
sented a good surface, all alike—I sowed oats—the 
appearance of this crop was singular—it looked like 
rows of gingerbread—those on the rows of hills good 
—those between the old rows poor—little grain in 
them. I lost about one-half of my crop that year. 
Mr. Bloomfield —Where clover has been grown, 
it is remarked that its tap root loosens the soil deep, 
and that undoubtedly adds much to the growth of the 
wheat planted upon the field. I agree to the doctrine 
of deep plowing. 
Chairman —Clover is highly beneficial from that 
cause ; the tap root loosens the ground. 
Mr. Bloomfield —Those of our farmers who have 
