—itlURE 
TgRICULTURP 
ROCHESTER N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1863 
{WHOLE NO. 708 
MOOEE’S EUEAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIOIXAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AXI) FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 
Thus it will be seen the trial assumed a mag¬ 
nitude and importance the officers of the Society 
did not expect when they offered the above pre¬ 
miums. It was expected to close the trial in 
one day; the committee worked hard two days; 
and had the test of the mowers been as thorough 
as that applied to the reapers, a third day’s work 
would have been done. 
I think it important to Western farmers that 
the results of such trials should be fully and 
faithfully reported. The farmers of no section 
of our country have a more vital interest in the 
progress and perfection of this class of machi¬ 
nery, than those of the grain-growing regions of 
the West. And it is a significant fact, that every 
reaper builder with whom I have conversed, 
asserts that he has scores, and, in some instances, 
hundreds of orders for reapers and mowers, 
which he cannot supply. It is further a signifi¬ 
cant as well as eloquent testimonial of the 
value and important results of these trials, that 
scarcely a machine which appeared on the 
ground at the Do Kalb Co. trial the other day, 
and which was at the trial at Dixon last year, 
but had been In some degree improved—the 
suggestion of improvement having been made at 
that trial. It, is of these improvements, and the 
work resulting from the trial, that I shall write- 
taking each machine up separately, and con¬ 
densing the work of both days in one para¬ 
graph. 
THE REAPERS—WHERE AND HOW THE TEST 
WAS MADE. 
The first day the test of reapers was made in 
a field of barley. In Home parts of the field, the 
barley was very short and thin; in others, a fair 
stand; and in another part it was heavy, and 
considerably lodged. The machines were each 
required to cut twice around this field, followed 
by the committee. Only one machine was al¬ 
lowed to operate at a time. This was a pretty 
severo test, and the work of each machine was 
Critically examined by the committee, the farm¬ 
ers present, and the — reporters! The second 
bly to manufacturers, that the raking and bind¬ 
ing must be provided for—that Western farmers, 
strong, sturdy, and muscular as they are, will 
scarcely be content until they get machines that 
cut and deliver the grain bound—at least it must 
be delivered in gavels, and in readiness for 
binding. 
And here we see the eager eyes of the farmers 
present follow that elbow of a rake, as it sweeps 
I he platform of its burthen, presses it in a close, 
compact gavel, and drops it at one side of the 
machine, out of the way of the machine as it 
passes its next round. No grain is scattered as 
last, year; none is dropped or dragged along 
between the gavels. In the short, the long, the 
light, the heavy, the standing and the lodged 
bailey, the work seemed uniformly good. And 
what do the binders say? I pass along among 
them late in the afternoon of the first day, and 
ask which machine they prefer to bind after. 
The reply is, without dissent, “the first self- 
raker that went around." 1 
This machine drew its acre in the wheat, the 
next day, a half a mile away from the Geld where 
other machines cut. It was rough, full of ditches, 
and covered with ripe wiry chess instead of 
wheat. No swath had been cut around it; but 
“Brooks” did not hesitate; and over the hum¬ 
mocks, across the dUches, through the tough 
tangle went the reaper with its elbow rake. 
There is a large gathering to see it. The work 
done challenges the admiration of the crowd, 
and the manner in which the grain is delivered 
results in a popular award of the premium 
offered for a self-raker. Secretary Smull an- 
THE USE- OF PLASTER, 
In a late paper I showed that one great use of 
plaster is, that it enters into the composition of 
the plant, itself. In this respect it is necessary, 
like potash, lime, silica, and phosphate of lime, 
and is one part of the nutriment of many plants. 
Another supposed action of gypsum or plaster 
is held to be its absorption of ammonia us it falls 
from the atmosphere in water upon the earth. 
This is mentioned in Brown's Essay, and was 
made popular some few years ago by Likiikj. 
He held that the carbonate of ammonia in the 
water is absorbed by the plaster, and there being 
a double decomposition of the two, carbonate of 
lime and sulphate of ammonia resulted, both of 
which are valuble substances for plants; the last 
being carried up into the plants to yield hydro 
gen and nitrogen as a part of their proper food. 
Boussinoaut.t, one of the most useful and im¬ 
portant agricultural chemists, and others also, 
doubted the correctness of this theory, for this ob¬ 
vious reason. As gypsum does not improve cer¬ 
tain crops, and ns ammonia is continually falling 
into the earth hy rains, and must be decomposed by 
the gypsum when present, so that the ammonia 
must be evolved and be accessible by the roots 
of plants; it is clear, either, that the theory is not 
true, or that ammonia is not of such general use 
as LrECIQ maintains. The latter is not admitted 
by 1 chemists; the theory, therefore, is notte able. 
It is not true that gypsum has great absorbing 
power of water and ammonia, as has been stated 
in the IH-raj., and by various authors. In the 
late “ Natural Laws of Husbandry,” by Liebig, 
he maintains that “ arable soils” have a stronger 
absorbing power of ammonia than gypsum itself, 
and “we are still iu the dark about the action of 
gypsum,” p. 326. Indeed, he proves that an 
aqueous solution of plaster thrown upon lands, 
is decomposed in part, lime being separated from 
the sulphuric acid by potash and magnesia, 
which took its place, p. 325 and on. Thar, sul¬ 
phate of ammonia should be decomposed in a 
plant by its potash, was to be. expected; but the 
appearance of magnesia has no obvious reason. 
While we give up the superior absorbing power 
of gypsum, we have not satisfactory evidence of 
the way in which gypsa* operates, except as a 
nutriment of many plants.—0. n. 
tops should be,—hut this only in very short, 
light grain. Iu the wheat “ the Kirby” did good 
work, cutting its acre in 48 minutes and l(> sec¬ 
onds. The gavels were well laid. It was also 
tried and did good work as a hand-raker, one 
man performing the entire labor of driving and 
raking. 
Seymour & Morgan's Skt.f-Raker.— This is 
the veteran self-raker, and everywhere favorably 
known. It cuts five feet three inches wide. 
Draft given here as 325 pounds,same as Kirov’s. 
Last year the State Society put it at 340 pounds. 
It, like the others, goes into the barley. It has a 
good team attached, and moves on promptly. 
Off comes the lodged barley, closely cut. But 
how about the rake, it don't deliver the grain 
as well as lost, year. The gavels are spread and 
drawn. Something is wrong. I have seen it do 
much better. it did better last year at, Dixon. 
Last year the gavel was laid smoothly and 
evenly, so that a handsome bundle could be 
made of them. Now it Is not. I look for the 
reason and find it The platform extends back 
too far, or the rake is not adjusted so ns to leave 
the grain the moment it drops from the platform. 
It leaves it to return too soon; the grain draws 
from the platform. It made a bad impression in 
the barley the first day, because of this want of 
adjustment; for in the wheat the next day, the 
rake had been adjusted so as to do good work. 
I asked if It was easily done. “Yes,' was the 
reply. Then it should have been done in the 
field at the time of trial, in the presence of the 
judges and the farmers, so that they would have 
learned how to remedy, promptly, such a defect 
in Us work. Whether the short barley had some¬ 
thing to do in determining the character of its 
work I am not prepared to say. I know that it, 
is about as difficult a kind of grain to cut and 
handle well a? there is, especially when rather 
green. In the wheat the gavels were well laid, 
as of old time,— regular and in good positions; 
also in the (lax, where I saw it tried. It made 
an excellent Impression hero, and cut Us acre iu 
good stylo in ■!! minutes. It is a good reaper, 
substantially built, and merits all the success it 
has attained. 
Marsh Bro.’s Selk-Rakkr and Hand Bind¬ 
er.— This machine did not go into the barley 
field at all. The afternoon of the first day it was 
put to work iu a field of late and badly rusted 
winter wheat, for the gratification of the crowd. 
Being engaged elsewhere, ( did not see it work. 
But the second day it drew Us acre and entered 
the field with the rest. It is a novelty. It is 
drawn by two horses, driven by a driver who 
sits elevated high over a large driving wheel 
which propels the sickle, reel, and an endless 
aproD. The grain falls on this endless apron, 
and is carried on it up over the driving 
wheel and over an upper cylinder at the right of 
the driving wheel, falling into a trough. On a 
platform beside this trough stands two men who 
bind the grain as fast as It falls there,—each 
alternating with the other in binding a bundle. 
These men stood under an awning of cotton to 
keep them from the sun. This machine cut five 
feet wide. Its draft, according to the report of 
the Committee, was 325 pounds. It carried three 
men. The team did not appear to labor hard. 
It is true they wore not hurried. After cutting 
once around the field, both men binding, one of 
them sits down on the binding table, quietly 
folds his arms and looks on. The other, one 
of the Marsh Brothers, Muds the balance of the 
acre as fast as the machine cuts it. ft is pretty 
snug work; but the binding is well done, and 
and without great effort, apparently. Yet some 
one suggests that he cannot do it all day. His 
blood is up Instanter! He offers to bet that he 
eau cut, with one man to drive, and bind alone, 
twelve acres in twelve successive hours. No one 
takes the bet; but sundry neighbors who know' 
what he can do, c ry, Yes, sir, and he will do it, 
too.” But let us see what data he has from this 
time test upon which to base this bet. How long 
was he cutting and binding this acre? Fifty 
minutes, the official timer says. The wheat 
stood up finely, was a pretty good stand, and was 
probably a tair average test. The field was well 
cut. There was not a particle of waste. No 
cleaner field was found after any machine. No 
better bound grain was set up during the two 
days. These are very suggestive facts, which 
will not be lost upon the inventors and reaper 
men present, you may be sure. If I find room 
I will refer to them again hereafter.—[Conclusion 
in next number.] 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corptt of Able Aaafotaut* nn«l Contributor*. 
CHA3. D. BRAGDON, Western Corresponding Editor. 
Tim Rural NswYorker is riosiirned to be unsurpassed 
in Value, Purity and Variety r>)' Contents, anil unique 
and beautiful in Appeaninco. IU Couductor devotes bis 
personal attention to the supervision of I to various 
departments, and earnestly labors to render the Rural an 
eminently Reliable Guide on all the important Practical, 
Scientific and other Subjects intimately connected with the 
bufinc-'i of those whoso Interests it zealously advocates. 
As a Family Journal it is eminently Instructive and 
Entertaining — hrfnif s* conducted that it can bo safely 
taken to the Homes of people of ititoUIgcnw, taste and 
discrimination. It embraces more Agricultural, Horticul¬ 
tural, Scientific.* Educational, Literary end News Matter, 
intersper sed with appropriate Engravings, than any other 
journal,—rendering It the most complete Agricultural, 
Literary and Family Newspaper iu America 
For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
IN THE HARVEST FIELD. 
The Do Kalb Co. Ag. Society has hitherto 
provided for a trial of reapers and mowers, 
which provision has been attended with good 
results. It seems to me a wise policy which fur¬ 
nishes the farmers of a county an opportunity to 
see the different, machines beside each othor, 
compare their construction, and witness their 
work in a comparative test. It is a good thing 
for a county agricultural society to do. The 
farmers of that, county are less likely to purchase 
a poor machine. For they thus have opportu¬ 
nity to learn the points of merit in each, not 
only from observation, but from the discussions 
of manufacturers and their brother farmers- 
Thejudgment is educated. The experience of 
farmers present is elicited. Euch rival manu¬ 
facturer or ag«?nt has the opportunity to point, 
out the defects of other machines present, and 
press the importance, and demonstrate it, too, of 
the points of merit claimed for his own. They 
learn how to manage the machines they buy. 
They can see each one handled skillfully. If 
one breaks down, the farmer has a chance to see 
the remedy applied, if it can be; or determine 
whether the defect be a radical and incurable 
one. He witnesses the trial in the different 
kinds of grain and grass, on different conditions 
of surface and soil, and may make a pretty relia¬ 
ble estimate of the adaptation of each one to his 
farm and husbandry. 
And the manufacturer is benefited, ne has 
an opportunity to compare his own with other 
machines. He studies the principles involved 
in their construction, as developed by their 
work. If one has a point of merit which ren¬ 
ders it in any degree more valuable than his 
own, he at once sets about resolving how he may 
reporters! 
day the trial of reapers was continued in a line 
field of winter wheat—most of which stood up 
well, was heavy, and the ground moderately 
undulating. This last trial was to give each 
machine an opportunity to cut its acre on lime. 
The fields were drawn for, and the reaper draw¬ 
ing lot No. 1 entered the field, cut once around 
it, under the eye of the committee. No. 2 then 
started, and was followed by the committee in 
the same manner; and then No. 3 started, and 
so on. On the second day a sub-committee was 
appointed to test the draft of each machine, by 
Gibbs’ Improved Dynamometer. In the appli¬ 
cation of this test, the machines were driven 
around a field of wheat, selected as being nearly 
uniform in growth and in the character of its 
surface. The test was applied in the order 
drawn. 
JUDGES — POINTS OF COMPARISON. 
The judges were J. F. Gliddon, President of 
the Society; Moses Dean, of Sycamore; and 
John Russel, of Kingston. J. D. Butts, of 
Do Kalb, acted as Superintendent; J. W. Smull, 
Secretary. The judges announced the points of 
comparison to be: 
1. The manner of doing the work. 
2. The timo required to do the same. 
3. The draft of ttie machine. 
4. Strength and durability of the same. 
TRIAL OP SELF-RAKING REAPERS. 
Walter A. Wood’s Machine, —It will be 
remembered that this machine took the first pre¬ 
mium as a Self-Raker at the State Trial at 
Dixon last year. The principal cause of com¬ 
plaint against it, then was the fact that the grain 
was scattered as the gavels were dropped by the 
rake. Let us -ee what it does now. The gen¬ 
eral Western agent,. Whitman, claims that it has 
been radically improved. Here it goes! It cuts 
five and a hall feet wide—cilia well; it always 
did. It draws light; for the draft test shows its 
draft to be 250 pounds. The State Society’s test 
put it at 2(JO pounds. Whether this difference is 
due to the improvements, or the difference in the 
ground and grain, I aui not able to say. Let us 
watch its work in the barley. It cuts well ; but 
I notice the farmers pay comparatively little 
attention to the cutting. Machines that cut well 
are so easily made, so coDimon, and so perfect in 
the character of the work they do, that an excep¬ 
tion is dow a matter of astonishment. The eyes 
of farmers are turned to the other improvements 
in progress in order to render them the more 
perfect labor-saving machines. The self-raking 
attachment is one of these improvements; and 
each year is demonstrating more and more forci- 
THE STUBBLE-SHEARED VERMONT EWE 
In the issue of the Rural of April lltb, (I 
believe—I have not the copy at hand,) in an 
article on “stubble-shearing,” I Illustrated the 
practice by citing an example of a Vermont 
ewe I had recently seen. I gave in that arlicio 
my own estimate of the relAve length of the 
wool on ditit'rent, parts of the animal, as I saw It 
opened by a shepherd. The wool was simply 
divided — not pulled out — and compared. No 
one present knew, nor, probably, supposed that 
I was going to write an article on Htubble-shear- 
ing. I gave my own estimate of this difference 
In the length of wool in the language of “ Shep¬ 
herd IJ,” who was examining her; I put my own 
estimate in inches, In his mouth. With that 
exception, I quoted him literally. 
Not. long since, I received samples of wool 
purporting to have been fuirly taken from this 
animal soon after 1 was there. If they were 
fairly taken from the points indicated, 1 was a 
good deal mistaken In my estimates of the rela¬ 
tive length of the wool on the different parts of 
the ewe; and it is only just,—a justice I should 
have been glad to have done long ago had my 
attention been called to it immediately that 1 
should give the measurement of the samples 
received. Here they are:—Rump, 28; Hank, 21; 
arm, 28; neck. 28; foretop. between the eyes, lg 
inches. The shepherd who ownr this ewe as¬ 
sures me the wool was taken fairly from the 
points named. I am disposed to think it was; 
and yet any man acquainted with sheep and the 
different practices in shearing, knows that a very 
small difference in location often makes a great 
difference in the length of wool, and still the two 
samples may both bo taken from the rump, the 
arm, or the apron. 
But I had not in the outset, and have not, now, 
any ulterior object whatever in using this partic¬ 
ular animal as an example of stubble-shearing. 
1 then believed her to be such an example. And 
believing so, 1 used her to illustrate what I know 
to be a practice among a cet toin cla>» of sheep 
peddlers, and another class who supply these 
peddlers. If I was so radically mistaken as these 
samples seem to indicate, I am glad to know it, 
and thus acknowledge it; for I have no desire 
whatever to injure any legitimate business or 
business man.—c. d. b. 
■#r 
V 
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