BOTTS 5 STRAW-CUTTER. 
309 
fearful that this country is going to be short of 
wood in a few years. More than two hundred 
tons of good English hay have been cut upon this 
farm in a single year, and pasturage had the same 
season in proportion, and equally abundant crops 
of grain ; but the meadows now are running into 
spear and other grasses, and many acres are not 
worth mowing. There are two farms adjoining in 
a far worse condition. I need not say, they all 
bplong to non-residents, and the tenants have their 
own way of managing them. 
Octogenarian. 
Botts’ Straw - 1 
celebrity; and while I found many that operated 
sufficiently well as they came from the hands of 
the manufacturer, I met with none that retained 
its capabilities in the hands of the common farm 
laborer. I moreover remarked, that the instru¬ 
ment usually began to depreciate just after the first 
grinding and readjustment of the knives. I there¬ 
fore set my wits to work, to see if I could not 
devise a knife, the feeding apparatus of which 
should be simple and permanent, and the knives of 
which should be readily ground and adjusted by 
the commonest capacity. These two points I 
thought were to be desired, even if they could be 
obtained only at the expense of a little facility and 
rapidity of execution. After much expense of 
time and money—more, I fear, than I shall ever be 
repaid for—I flatter myself I have obtained these 
objects; and I have also been fortunate enough to 
combine with them, if not the greatest rapidity, 
certainly sufficient speed of operation to satisfy tlie 
most impatient temperament. The feeding appa¬ 
ratus is, I believe, the most perfect and durable I 
ever saw. In four years’ experience I have never 
known it deranged in the slightest degree. The 
BOTTS’ STRAW-CUTTER. 
I am much obliged to you for the kind offer 
contained in your note of the 9ih, and most gladly 
avail myself of the opportunity afforded by your 
popular journal, to extend a knowledge of the 
merits of my straw-cutter. I herewith send you 
a pretty faithful illustration of the implement. 
The history of the cutter is simply thisAs a 
practical farmer, I felt the need of a simple and 
efficient cutter, that should come within the capa¬ 
city of a common laborer. I purchased a great 
variety, consisting, of course, of those of most 
a—F ig. 60. 
cutting part consists of four knives, about four 
inches square, as flat and straight, and as easily 
ground, as a plane iron. In short, without wish¬ 
ing to disparage other cutters, many of which 
have great merits, and some, too, that I can not 
claim for mine, I think I do not arrogate too much 
when I say, that this knife is better adapted to the 
farm laborer, of the south at least, than any other 
in use. At any rate, I can procure certificates, if 
necessary, from hundreds of the best farmers in 
Virginia, bearing me out in this opinion. 
Mr. Ellsworth, the Commissioner of Patents, 
advised me several years ago to patent this knife 
in England. He has had one in use for several 
years, and I know entertains the highest opinion 
of it; although motives of delicacy prevented me 
from asking, as it would undoubtedly prevent him 
from giving, a certificate of the value of any im¬ 
plement in his office. It was only yesterday that 
Mr. Stevenson, the ex-minister to England, who, I 
assure you, sir, deserves to rank as high in your 
esteem and mine, for his devotion to agriculture, 
as he does among the statesmen of America as 
a politician, not only advised, but urged me to 
