263 
WEED SEWING MACHINE. 
If, even at bo comparatively a recent date 
as 1841, any one had besn told that sewing 
would be done by machinery, that such sew¬ 
ing would be more perfect than could be 
done by hand—if the speed, as well us the 
elegance, had been predicted, the prophet 
would have been denounced u.8 a dreamer. 
It was not till 1842 that the first patent for a 
sewing machine was applied for, followed in 
1843 by two others, and then steadily grow¬ 
ing in importance, reaching 72 patents in 
1858, and 87 in 1869—in all over 800 patents. 
a needle - case which prevents the needle 
breaking or springing from its place, and the 
needles can be set without the use of any tool. 
The balance wheel has a guard over it, pre¬ 
venting the dress being caught or soiled 
while operating. 
Its parts are few and simple, not likely to 
get out of order. 
WEED HEWING MACHINE, STYLE 1. 
Of course SO many patents indicated much 
need for sewing machines and much appre¬ 
ciation of them. Some of the patents were 
worthless, and some interfered with others, 
giving a rich han “»t to the lawyers. W r e 
remember one of the first machines patented, 
—a disk like a large dinner plate, with points 
projecting all around it, on which the work 
to be sewed hod to be stuck, and it had the 
revolving shuttle mounted on a wheel like a 
tea plate for size. It did not seem as if any¬ 
thing like the beautiful, effective machines 
we have now ever would be possible, that a 
business of such huge proportions could come 
from the “curiosity”—for it was nothing 
else—we examined. 
“To-day is a King iu disguise,” says Emer¬ 
son ; “ we do not know its greatness.” And 
those who invested capital for the develop¬ 
ment of sewing machines could scarcely have 
conceived the great results that would fol¬ 
low. Now there ts not a place, hardly a 
house, that has not at least one Sewing Ma¬ 
chine, while 5ti machines is not an uncommon 
number for a manufacturer to have. 
Of course specialties were soon developed. 
One man made a machine adapted only for 
the heaviest work, and as lighter machines 
were called for, altered, but still made his 
model generally heavy; another started to 
do only light work, and fouud it necessary to 
strengthen his machine, still leaving the im¬ 
press of the original idea apparent. Some 
claimed one excellence, some another, and it 
took a long time for the creation of a ma¬ 
chine that would do every kind of sewing 
neatly and effectively. Now there are sev¬ 
eral machines which have a fair range of 
work, and the constant effort is to improve 
in this direction. 
For the past two years we have offered 
Sewing Machines as premiums, and finding 
the Weed Sewing Machine greatly iu demand 
and giving perfect satisfaction everywhere, 
we have given it a more careful examination 
and comparison with other machines, that 
we might, as we always have done, supply 
BOUDOIR CABINET, STYLE 8. 
It can be oiled and cleaned without taking 
apart, or even moving a screw, or even lift¬ 
ing from the table, aud there is a shield under 
the machine which keeps out dust and ren¬ 
ders it impossible for any of the oil to get on 
the operator’s dress. 
It runs rapidly, easily and almost noise¬ 
lessly. 
It is carefully and well made, every part 
carefully fitted, insuring great efficiency aud 
durability. 
Glazed cotton and linen thread can be used 
with the “Weed” Machine without diffi¬ 
culty. 
Its feeding mechanism is certain and re¬ 
liable. 
A machine perpetually getting out of order, 
requiring great skill to adjust it for various 
kinds of work, constructed especially for 
coarse work or fine work, unfitted for using 
certain kinds of thread or to sew certain 
kinds of goods, would be in most cases a nui¬ 
sance, a source of perpetual annoyance aud 
trouble in any house. All these evils are 
avoided iu the Weed Sewing Machine. For 
every description of work, for every kind of 
thread, for skilled or unskilled operators, for 
family or manufacturing purposes, we are 
sure the Weed Machine will sustain its well- 
warned reputation. 
We will furnish Style 1 Machine, price $60, 
for 40 subscribers at club rates ; or Style 8, 
Boudoir Cabinet, price $00, for 60 subscribers. 
This latter style is highly ornamental as 
well as useful, The cut is too small to show 
this well, tint it can readily be seen that, 
open, it is a convenient arrangement, giving 
large space for the work aud closed, it forms 
a handsome ornament to a room. 
■—■-- 
FAIRBANKS’ SCALES. 
How much the world owes to dissatisfied 
men ! Not pleasant men always, but their 
persistent refusal to be satisfied with any- 
tlfing less than perfection is the secret of all 
the world’s progress. Notably is this true in 
the matter of Seales. 
Because Scales of sufficient strength and 
delioacy could not easily be had, the Farmer 
and his wife were each compelled to guess 
WORKING PARTS TURNED UP FOR OILING AND 
CLEANING. 
a premium good iu itself. The result of oui 
examination is that we have concluded to 
offer the “Weed” “Family Favorite” again 
this season, for the following reasons : 
It is strong, and will do heavy work with¬ 
out being clumsy or unable to do fine work. 
It ha-- a peculiar adjustment of the under 
thread, which renders the tension uuiform 
and reliable. 
It has a straight, direct-acting needle and 
St. Johnsbury, Vt. Foremost also in the 
success that has crowned these efforts. The 
large variety in form, the amount of special 
adaptations they have developed, the artistic 
finish and beauty of their scales, are good 
recommendations ; but the}- are as nothing 
when we think of their unvarying accuracy. 
It is a gTeat triumph that all over the land 
their scales are recognized as the standard, 
that other manufacturers condense the state¬ 
ment of the excellence of their scales into the 
phrase, “ As good as Fairbanks that 
courts have decided there is no appeal from 
the decision of weight given by their scales. 
We are glad to be able to announce that 
we can furnish some of their scales to our 
Agents as premiums. In selecting those we 
offer we have been guided by a consideration 
of the forms likely to be most, useful, and we 
think our friends will approve our choice. 
1. The Union or Family Scale, having 
Scoop and Platform, and weighing accurately 
3^ oz. to 240 lbs., costing at retail $14, we will 
furnish for 36 Subscribers at Club rates. 
2. Portable Platform Scale, No. 10, weigh¬ 
ing capacity 1,200lbs., platform 28x20 inches, 
costing at retail $40, we will furnish for 125 
Subscribers at Club rates. 
UNION scale. 
at facts in their own department, concerning 
which their knowledge should have been 
exact, of course blunders innumerable, fre¬ 
quent quarrels, some lawsuits, dissatisfaction 
and trouble generally came from conflicting 
guesses, until they learned that it did not 
pay to guess—it was false economy to do 
without scales. 
And there are “ Scales and Scales.” There 
are things that look like scales that are only 
sometimes correct, the balance of which will 
not move under slight provocation, and no 
two of the. same pattern will show the same 
figures under the same weight. The grada¬ 
tions of inaccuracy are almost infinite. Now, 
as a general thing, the measure that is not 
correct, the scale that is not sensitive is 
rather worse than nothing, for with good 
judgment one might guess right ; with a 
false balance one could scarce help being 
wrong. 
There are all over the country meu who 
have energetically striven after perfection in 
t-lfis matter, sparing no labor, no expense to 
meet the requirement of the time, a perfect 
scale, and at this time there is no difficulty 
iu finding scales suited to ike requirements 
of every business, accurate and reliable to a 
degree that would have been deemed impos¬ 
sible uot many }-ears ago. 
Foremost among these seekers after per¬ 
fection in Scales are E. T. Fairbanks & Co. ( 
PORTABLE PLATFORM SCALE. 
3. Portable Platform Seale, No. 11weigh¬ 
ing capacity 400 lbs., platform 21x15 inches, 
retail price $26, we will furnish for 70 Sub¬ 
scribers at Club rates. 
We expect to supply large numbers of 
some of these styles to our Agents during 
the coming season, for it takes so little effort 
to get the proper number of Subscribers, and 
the Scales are so “handy to have in the 
house,” that we shall be surprised if they 
are not exceedingly popular. 
■ — — ♦♦♦ - 
NEW CORN PLANTER WANTED. 
After trying numerous ways to plant 
corn, first single then double drill, then a 
machine to plant rows both ways, in which 
the corn was dropped by means of a lever 
attached to the right handle of the plow, J 
discarded them all and came back to the old 
way pf planting by hand and hoe, until last 
spring, when I bought aud used a hand 
planter ; but when the corn came up I found 
there was all the way from 0 to 7 or 8 in a 
hill, and it was more work to properly thin 
it than it would have been to have planted 
with a hoe in the start ; and then it did not 
leave it in near as good a shape. The princi¬ 
pal part of the corn here is planted in rows 
both ways, which enables you to cultivate it 
better and much easer. What we want is a 
good hand planter that will plant from 5 to 8 
acres in a day and do it well—put in just 
what you want in each hill and no more. If 
there is such a machine already, the owner 
would do well to advertise it in th Rural 
NEW-Y oRKEn, for it would meet with a 
ready sale here. If not-, some inventor would 
do well to produce such a machine; l'or most 
of the fanners 1 have talked with have come 
to the same conclusion—that it is more work 
to thin the corn after those we have than to 
plant it with a hoe. Other men may have 
hu<l different experience, but this is about 
the way things look in Northern Ohio. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Dull Mowing Knives increase the draft of 
the machine more than is imagined. At a 
trial of reapers by the American. Institute, 
at Poughkeepsie, it was found, by a careful 
dynamometer test, that the draft of each 
machine was nearly one-third greater when 
the knives were dull, aud iu this test the 
knives were only moderately dull, having 
been used to mow ouly one acre. It is, there¬ 
fore, important to keep the knives sharp. 
Any one can prove the truth of this state¬ 
ment by himself trying a sharp and then a 
dull scythe. He will declare that there is 
even more than one-third difference. 
Hay Cutters.—A Missourian has patented 
an invention which consists in improving 
hay and straw cutters by the application 
thereto of a grinding plate that, takes up the 
wear on the knife as fast as it occurs, a pe¬ 
culiar support for the cutter blade, auo 1 u 
novel means for operating the feed roll. 
These are said to cause the machine to oper¬ 
ate with less labor and to cut the hay or 
straw more uniformly than is usual. ‘ 
Patrons of Husbandry 
GOOD RESOLUTIONS. 
The following important resolutions were 
passed by the Maryland State Grange—read 
and indorse : 
1. Resolved , That the experience of the 
last five mouths has confirmed our faith in 
the good that will result from the fraternal 
union of farmers in the Grange. 
2. That we arc satisfied that the presence 
of women in the Grange as active and equal 
co-workcrs, is the strongest guarantee we 
have of an abiding usefulness. 
3. That, as Patrons, we must never forget 
that we are a secret Order ; and that upon 
the most inviolable secrecy and good faith 
depends the successful result of all our busi¬ 
ness efforts. 
4. That this Grange urges upon the Pa¬ 
trons of Husbandry, in all their efforts, to 
keep in view the importance of so encour¬ 
aging the mill, the loom, aud the anvil, as to 
have them everywhere near the plow, and 
so facilitate exchanges. 
5. That a library and reading room should, 
wherever passible, be a feature of the subor¬ 
dinate Grange, and we recommend each 
Grange to take one or more periodicals pub¬ 
lished in the interest of the Patrons of 
Husbandry. 
6. That the Masters of the subordinate 
Granges are directed to carry into effect a 
resolution passed at the last meeting of the 
State Grange, that the subordinate Grange 
should, in the interval between the meeting 
of the State Grange, mature such resolutions 
as will enlightcu the State Grange as to the 
legislation needed to advance the good of all. 
--- 
GOOD RESULTS OF THE GRANGE. 
One of the good effects of farmers associa¬ 
ting in Granges, is the bringing together in 
intimate relations, Democrats, Republicans, 
etc,, and teaching the prejudiced that men 
are men, after all, uo matter if they don’t 
happen to he of the same party or church. 
This intimate relation of men of diverse 
political sentiments, bound together in com¬ 
mon sympathies and interests, will tend to 
break down partisan feeling aud purify the 
politics of the country generally. Farmers 
from the North aud the South, the East aud 
the West, are beginning to study their inter¬ 
ests, free from partisan bias and the influence 
of shrewd aud unscrupulous politicians, who 
have so long led them blindfolded by cun¬ 
ning appeals to prejudice and passion. The 
good resulting therefrom is already appar¬ 
ent, and will eventually culminate in t'.ie 
total breaking up of the political as well as 
all other rings, devised for the gain and ad¬ 
vantage of the few at the expense of the 
many, 
->♦*-- 
"SOVEREIGNS” AND “LABORERS.” 
A recent dispalek from Washington thus 
alludes to two comparatively new secret 
Orders. William H. Earle, President of the 
National Council of the Sovereigns of Indus¬ 
try, is in Washington for the purpose of 
organizing a branch of the Order here. The 
Order exists in Iff States, Massachusetts, 
where it originated, having over 10,000mem- 
bers. The headquarters of the Order will 
soon be removed to Washington. 
Within a year past an Older, said to be 
quite formidable in point of members, has 
grown among the colored people of the 
South, styled the Council of Laborers ; the 
objects of the organization being similar to 
those of the Grangers. The grand encamp¬ 
ment of the Order is located here, aud Jos. 
McKee of Mississippi, is Noble Grand. Beak 
of these orders are off-shoots of the Patrons 
of Husbandry, with whom they co-operate. 
-♦♦♦- 
OREGON STATE GRANGE. 
An Oregon paper says:—The first annual 
session of the State Grange, Patrons of Hus¬ 
bandry, was begun on the 16th instant. 
There was a full attendance at the opening, 
more than 200 delegates being present. An 
able address was delivered by the Grand 
Master, Daniel H. Clark, in which he re¬ 
counted the progress and spoke encourag¬ 
ingly of the prospects of the Order in Oregon 
and the Territories. Committee reports 
were afterward received, and then the 
Grange adjourned until evening, when 
secret business was taken up. The number 
of Granges represented in this jurisdiction 
was, in Oregon, 175, and Washington Ter¬ 
ritory, 52. There was a full representation 
yesterday, on which occasion the fifth degree 
was conferred and the various officers in¬ 
stalled The Grange then adjourned. 
