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ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1862, 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
TUB LEADING AMERICAN WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
is not willing to give to others the privileges he 
asks for himself, there you will find a despot—one 
who at heart despises a free government, and sym¬ 
pathizes with the present effort to destroy this 
happy land and trample under foot the great prin¬ 
ciples upon which it is founded. 
This contest is now raging between freedom and 
despotism. Our relatives, our children, our friends, 
have left the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, and 
are now armed and battling in defense of free gov¬ 
ernment; and from them and from the constituted 
authorities we receive another call for hejp. Six 
hundred thousand more men are needed at once, 
and are now being formed into regiments. One of 
about every five of our able-bodied working men, 
all over the country, are thus compelled to leave 
the fields of usefulness for the “field of glory.” 
This abstraction of so large a portion of the pro¬ 
ducing class must, result disastrously to the indus¬ 
trial interests of the country, unless the necessary 
steps are taken to make this loss gooff Improved 
lahor-saving machines will help in a measure, but 
every one who can must work, and work with a 
will. The young can do something, and the old 
can do much; and he who helps to keep up the 
supply of food and clothing, is doing something, 
and much more than many imagine, to give strength 
to our country and success to our arms. 
The wheat and hay is about all harvested; and 
though in some fields the yield of the latter is quite 
light, on the whole we have no reason to complain; 
for the wheat is superior in quality while the yield 
is unusually large. Our two main crops are there¬ 
fore out of the way, and now we must prepare in 
earnest for sowing winter wheat The success the 
present year will encourage those who have been 
rather doubtful whether it would pay to engage 
again in wheat-growing on an extensive scale, and 
we anticipate that a larger breadth will be sown 
this fall than for many years previous. Corn is 
coming along rapidly under the influence of the 
present warm weather; yet a good deal will be 
poor, and in this section we can hardly expect an 
average crop. Potatoes are looking well, and, from 
examination, we are satisfied tne yield will be good. 
Thus far we have seen no sign of the rot or disease 
in the leaves, nor are they troubled with insects as 
for several years past. White Beans are being 
grown most extensively, and are doing well. With 
fine weather, and care in harvesting, we think more 
will be saved in Western New York this season 
than in any three years previous. This we jndge 
only from the large quantities we see growing on 
almost every farm. On the whole, we need nothing 
but a good deal ol earnest work on the part of all, 
and the close of summer will find ns with abundant 
crops well secured. 
succeeded in convincing said reporter that tbescale, 
as published, was not gotten up after the trial had 
progressed, in order to overthrow hi3 “conclusion.” 
But enough. It is a simple matter to generalize the 
essentials to a good reaper and mower. They are 
simplicity, durability, adaptability and'efficiency. 
1. Simplicity of design and construction. 
2. Durability of parts and of the whole combined. 
3. Adaptability of parts to each other, and of the 
whole to the perfect performance of the work to be 
executed. 
4. Efficiency to do the work required, in all con¬ 
ditions of grain and grass, of soil and surface. 
In the absence of the well digested scale the Com¬ 
mittee was supposed to possess, aad of facilities for 
acquiring data except in a general way, I am com¬ 
pelled to make my record refer to these general 
requirements. 
THE MOWERS. 
The following is a list of the machines entered in 
competition for the premiums offered for the best 
mower, and tested as mowers in competition for the 
premium offered for the best combined reaper and 
mower: —1. Wood’s Two-wheel Mower, by W. 
A. Wood, Hoosick Falls, New Y'ork. 2. Wood’s 
Jointed-bar Mower, by same. 3. The Ohio 
Mower, by E. Ball, Canton, Ohio. 4. The 
“ Excelsior,” by Cline Seiberling & IIower, 
Doylestown, Ohio. 5. Kirby’s Mower, by D. M. 
Osborne & Co., Auburn, N. Y. 6, Curtis’ Cam 
Mower, by Geo. S. Curtis, Chicago. 7. “Cayuga 
Chief Son.,” by Sheldon & Co., Auburn, N. Y. 8. 
“CayugaChief. Jr.,” by same. 9. John P. Manny's 
Senior Mower, by John P. Manny, Rockford, 111. 
10. J. P. Manny’s Junior Mower, by same. 11. 
“Buckeye, Sen.,” by II. II. Taylor, Freeport, III. 
12. “Buckeye, Jr.,” by same. 13. Rugg's Mower, 
by G. H. Ri’oo, Ottawa, Ill. 14. Esterly’s Mower, 
by Geo. Esterly, Whitewater, Wis. 15. Coggs- 
well's Patent, hy Thos. H. Mepei.l, Ottawa, 111 
IG. Seymour, Morgan & Allen's, Brockport, N. Y. 
17. McCormick’s, by C. H. McCormick & Bro., 
Chicago. 
where the tests were made. 
The trial of Mowers was commenced the 22d, 
continued the 23d, and completed Saturday, the 2G'h, 
the 24th and 25tb having been employed in testing 
reapers, headers, and binders in the grain. The 
mowers were all first tried in a fine field of timothy, 
which would yield from a tun and a half to two and 
a half tuns of hay per acre. A portion of this grass 
was lodged—the greater proportion stood up nicely. 
The surface was all that could be desired — smooth 
and dry. It was sufficiently rolling. The meadow 
was divided into lots of an acre each, with appro¬ 
priate numbers and guides. Each machine drew 
for a number, which determined what field it should 
cut. The headlands had been cut, the machines 
took their position, and it was announced by the 
committee that the draft of the machines would first 
be tested. 
THE DYNAMOMETER TEST. 
To fix the relative draft of each machine, Gibb’s 
Dynamometer was used. It was put on the 
machines at starting to cut out their lands, when 
each machine must necessarily gather all it could 
and cut all it could gather. No one could take 
exception to this Application of the test But, con¬ 
trary to former precedent, each driver rode his re¬ 
spective machine and drove his own team, instead 
of walking and driving from the ground. By the 
careful oversight of the Committee this fact need 
net affect the draft materially either way. The 
heavier the driver, the greater the draft. The more 
ambitious and hard-bitted the team, the lighter the 
draft Again, some of these machines were put into 
grass for the first time—were entirely new, and the 
parts had not been worn. They therefore worked 
heavier than the machines taken from the field 
where they had been used some time. But these 
considerations are of no use to me, inasmuch as 1 
could not obtain the figures showing the relative 
draft as given by the dynamometer. They are only 
important as points not to be overlooked by the 
Committee in arriving at the true, or at least the 
approximate result of this test. Dynamometer tests 
are necessarily imperfect, and only possess a 
relative value. 
THE RACE OP THE MOWERS. 
The test of draft having been completed, the dif¬ 
ferent fields cut out, the teams were again put in 
position to complete the cutting of the acre on time. 
At a given signal each team started. The time test 
was magnified too greatly by some of the compet¬ 
itors, as entering largely into the ultimate result. 
Some teams walked and some trotted—most of them 
were hurried. Some ambitious drivers sought to 
gather too much, and the sickle or knife left broad, 
ragged, unseemly fringes —such as are left by the 
old-time mowers when they neglect to “ toe out.” 
These drivers doubtless regretted their ambition 
after their fields had been raked. Machines that 
did good cutting, to their full capacity, had their 
work condemned by the unthinking, because of this 
careless way of driving. 
The Committee gave the drivers no directions— 
no rules for driving. They were directed, each to 
cut his acre in his own way—as quick or slow as he 
chose. The Committee required that in case a ma¬ 
chine was stopped for any cause, it should remain 
still until some member of the Committee had visited 
it and learned the cause of t^e stoppage. The timer 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
CILA8. D. BRAGDON, Western Corresponding Editor. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value. Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes bis per¬ 
gonal attention to the supervision of its various departments, 
and earnestly labors to render the Rural an eminently Reliable 
Guide on all the important Practical. Scientific and other 
Suhiects intimately connected witb the business of those whose 
interest* it zealously advocates. As a Family Journal it is 
eminently Instructive and Entertaining—being so conducted 
that ll can he safely taken to the Hearts and Homes of people 
of intelligence, taste and discrimination It embraces more 
Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific. Educational, Literary 
and News Matter, interspersed witb appropriate and beautiful 
Emrravings. than any other journal,—rendering it the most 
complete Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper 
in America. 
The “ Cayuga Chief, Sen., and Jr,,” did not fail to 
do capital work wherever placed. The “Buckeye, 
Sen., and Jr.,’’ both cut well iu lame and prairie 
grass; but clogged when stopped and started in the 
blue grass. Backing the machine a few inches, it 
went through without difficulty. 
WHICH IS THE BEST MOWER ? 
I cannot tell. It is rarely the case that so many 
good machines are found competing with each other. 
Each of the machines enumerated above has its 
peculiar merits. Some of them doubtless combine 
more good qualities than some others. The reader, 
with the writer, must look to the report of the Com¬ 
mittee for the data necessary to render a comparison 
valuable. Individual opinioD or judgment without 
the sustaining power of figures and facts might be 
declared invidious, as it certainly might be unjust. 
[ shall therefore reserve my own opiuion until I 
may have opportunity to review the report of the 
Committee. 
the reapers. 
A fine field of wheat of about two hundred acres 
had been secured for the trial of Reapers. Some of 
the grain was pretty badly lodged. It would yield 
from twelve to twenty bushels of grain per acre — 
the field would hardly average more than fifteen 
bushels. The same machines enumerated above as 
competing for the premium offered for the best 
mower, with the exception of two or three of the 
Junior mowers, were put on trial as reapers, either 
in competition for the premium offered for the best 
reaper, or tor that offered for the best combined 
reaper and mower. Here the surveys had been 
made as in the grass. The field allotted to each 
machine was nearly two acres. The same method 
of testing the draft, was adopted. Fewer machines 
were put in the field at once, in order that each 
member of the Committee might witness the work¬ 
ing of each machine. 
TnE SELF-RAKING REAPERS 
Were first started. These attracted great attention, 
and were watched, and their work critically ex¬ 
amined, by the hundreds of farmers present, attest¬ 
ing the vital interest Western farmers have in 
every thing that saves manual labor—that supplies 
the place of the muscles and nerves gone to defend 
the country. 
Wood’s, McCormick's, Seymour A Morgan’s, and 
Cline Seiberliug A Hower’s “Excelsior,” were 
ihe competing machines as self-rakers. The grain 
they were tested in was the lightest and stood up 
the best of aDy in the field. The cutting was 
equally well done by each machine, with a differ¬ 
ence in time. McCormick's machine was drawn by 
four horses. Its raker is attached to the reel-bar, 
and, with each revolution of the reel, sweeps the 
grain from the platform, leaving it on one side, in 
long gavels. The grain is laid off evenly and in 
a position relative to the following, binder, con¬ 
venient for him to gather and lie. But this sweep¬ 
ing rake is an awkward concern. The driver has 
no control over it at all. It revolves, with the 
reel, and with each revolution a gavel is laid off, 
whether the grain be light or heavy. 
Seymour & Morgan’s machine delivers the grain 
at the side, in much the same shape as McCor¬ 
mick's. Its rake revolves and sweeps the platform 
of the grain in much the same way. But, unlike 
McCormick's, the driver can easily regulate the size 
of the gavels. In all respects it is a much better 
raker than McCormick’s, and the machine, as a 
combined machine, is an excellent one. It did good 
work in all places, is adjustable, light of draft, well 
built, and efficient. 
Wood’s Self Raker was the rival of the last named 
machine. Its raking attachment is ingenious, and 
can be applied to almost any machine, I am told. 
The grain is delivered at the side in a compact 
gavel. The only limit that can be found with this 
raker, is that the gavels are delivered so that the 
binder, in following the reaper, comes directly to 
the tops of the grain, or end of the gavel, instead of 
the side; mid the raker invariably draws the top 
grain of the gavel after it a little. Compared with 
the work of hand-rakers, these faults (if they may 
be called faults) are of little importance. The 
compactness of the gavel, and the perfect control 
the driver has over the rake, regulating the size of 
and depositing the bundles when he chooses, com¬ 
bined with the ease of draft and efficiency in cut¬ 
ting, render this machine a very valuable one for 
the farmer. I apprehend the premium to the selt- 
rakers will be given to either the Wood or Seymour 
IT* For Terms and other particulars, see last pagre. 
THE TIME OP TRIAL, 
For eighty years our country ha3 enjoyed unex¬ 
ampled prosperity. In that time we have made 
most rapid advancement in all those pursuits that 
elevate the individual and the Daiion. We have 
subdued the forests and the prairies, and made 
pleasant and happy homes for our own people, as 
well as for those of other lands. We have provided 
moral, intellectual, and spiritual education for 
youth, to an extent perhaps unequaled ia any 
country of any age. While the people of other 
nations have been ground down with taxation, and 
robbed ot the fruits of their industry, to keep up a 
spleDdid government of showy drones, and their 
sons have been dragged from the home-circle to 
fight the battles of crowned heads, we havo enjoyed 
the proceeds of our toil, only furnishing a very 
THE GREAT REAPER TRIAL AT DIXON. 
I’ve been thinking, the last ten minutes, how I 
should tell the Rural reader the story of the trial 
of Reapers and Mowers, of Headers and Binders, 
Ac., Ac., at Dixon, under the auspices of the 
Illinois State Agricultural Society—its Executive 
Committee being the awarding committee. What 
to say is the question. I question the profit of 
occupying space with the mass of details my note¬ 
book contains, inasmuch as they are, necessarily, 
incomplete. I have therefore resolved to condense 
the matter at my disposal as much as may be. 
THE M'EATHER 
Was all that could Lave been desired. The week 
before, an unprecedented amount of rain had fallen 
in almost all parts of the State. At least tidy miles 
of Railway on the line from Chicago to Dixon and 
Fulton city was more or less damaged by the flood, 
and trains had ceased running for a time. The 
breaks had not all been repaired on the day the 
Trial commenced. Passengers and freight were 
ance as to see the people enjoying the blessings of 
liberty and equality, and living in peace, like one 
happy family. Cain is the natural father of this 
tribe. Had Abel been mean and miserable, no 
hand would have been raised against him; but 
Cain could not endure his peace and prosperity; 
hence his death. The progress oi our country has 
been a constant annoyance to the despots of our 
own and other lands. Unfortunately, at the estab¬ 
lishment of our government, the fathers yielded a 
little to this class, hoping and believing that the 
good sense of the people, the best interests of the 
country and humanity, and the glorious principles 
on which the government was founded, would in a 
little while cause the practice of all to agree with 
our avowed principles, and that we should then 
stand forth as a light among the nations. But, 
instead of following the general example, the few 
despots have been chafed and annoyed at our in¬ 
creasing strength, and in various ways have sought 
our ruin. For years the country has been kept in 
turmoil by then- cunning and desperate plans, and 
unholy threats. Texas must be obtained to add to 
their strength, and Cuba and portions of Central 
America, while Kansas must be brought under their 
sway. They have sought to briug the whole power 
of the government to their service, —and in too 
many instances have been successful, —while in 
many cases our public men have acted like slaves 
at the feet of the despots. But the right time, in 
their opiuion, having arrived, they undertook a bold 
move —no less than to force nearly one-half of this 
country into a rebellion against the established 
government, seize our national property and our 
capital, destroy all who opposed them, and on the 
ruins of our glorious free government set up a des¬ 
potism-place their feet upon the necks of the 
people, and rule with a rod of iron. 
At this state of things the tyrants of the world 
rejoiced—there was joy in despotic courts, and a 
carnival in the lower regions. Some were surprised 
that England and other countries should show so 
much sympathy with so dark a cause —that Eng¬ 
lish lords and commoners should urge at once, in 
the British Parliament, the immediate recognition 
°f a bouthern Confederacy. But despotism is the 
same everywhere; and wherever a man lives who 
ut Co N Y 
