144 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May, 
four fold—but the largest average produce is but 25 
fold—then what becomes of the 19 fold lost ? May it 
not be, that the greater portion is lost by careless cul¬ 
tivation, and a portion by insects? 
To perform the duty of sowing grain, as it should be 
done, a man can sow twelve acres in a day—but taking 
one with another, as laborers present themselves to the 
farmer, very few know anything of this important du¬ 
ty; consequently, we have called in the aid of machi¬ 
nery, not only to distribute the seed equally and uni¬ 
formly, but to economise too costly labor. This has been 
well accomplished by the introduction of Seymour’s 
Sowing Machine , by means of which a man can sow 
22 acres or more per day; and once for all, when I as¬ 
sert results as facts, without qualification, they are to be 
received as established by my own practice and experi¬ 
ence, for several successive years. Thus, with a sowing 
machine, we can distribute either grain or grass seeds, 
with a precision which cannot be accomplished by hand; 
the quantity per acre may be graduated to a quart. 
The time gained in the operation, and the labor saved, 
is a profit to the cautious farmer which he carefully 
cherishes. Let us examine the matter by figures, and 
note the results. 
The hire of a man and horse for two days, .... $1 50 
in which time he sowed 44 acres, at a cost of 
about 4-| cents per acre. + 
If sowed by hand with equal precision , a man 
might sow twelve acres per day, requiring 3§ 
days, at $1 per day,.$3 66 
or at a cost of 8§ cents per acre—an allowance of the 
annual wear and tear of the machine may be made, and 
we have a saving of about one-half of the expense in favor 
of the machine. The gain of time is very valuable, and 
the gain in product is considerable, probably not less 
than five out of the nineteen fold lost to us, as shown 
in the experiment before stated. Here we have a field 
for economy in our farming practice but little known, 
and commending itself to the serious consideration and 
scrutiny of every farmer. 
These seed sowers are not machines of recent inven¬ 
tion; they have been known and used for many years 
in other countries, and to such perfection have they 
been carried in England, that a seed sower moving at 
the rate of two and a-lialf miles per hour, has covered 
54 acres in ten hours; their great breadth however, 
would not be acceptable to the American farmer. 
Among the most efficient of our farm machines is 
the Hay rake , worked by horse power; machines of 
this character were attempted in England about 65 
years ago, but it was reserved for the American farmer 
to perfect the machine. This rake is so universally 
used, that it needs no remark to call the attention of 
the farmer to its economy. Within a few years, a horse 
rake with iron teeth has been introduced, deserving our 
attention, for raking our stubbles, and all such grain 
fields as are harvested without binding into sheaves— 
it works well also in the hay field, when the teeth are 
well tempered. 
We have reason to know that from the earliest period 
of history, attempts were made to lessen the severe la¬ 
bors of harvesting grain, but the simple reaping hook, 
or sickle, maintained its supremacy at all times, and un¬ 
til within the last 70 or 80 years;—nor was it until 
about the year 1815 that any thing promising success 
was presented to the farmer. At that date, premiums 
of $2500 were offered in England, for the production 
of effective Reaping Machines. The premium was not 
awarded, but, credit is due to Mr. Smith, of Deanston, 
for a machine which, though it was approved and use.d 
for several years, was relinquished. In 1837, Mr. Smith 
improved his reaper, but it was too heavy and cumbrous 
for general use. The necessity for a reaping machine 
was felt so strongly, that the mechanical genius of 
Great Britain was severely urged for its production, 
and machines were produced by Mr. Bell and Mr. 
Mann, at different periods, and each with promise of 
success. All however were complex and costly; of 
course not fitted or suitable to general use, and at this 
day, the sickle and the scythe are extensively used in 
harvesting in Europe. Here again, it was reserved for 
American ingenuity to secure success, and I believe the 
merit is due to Mr. Obed Hussey of Maryland, for the 
production of the simplest and most effective machine for 
reaping our grains, that has yet been offered. Other in¬ 
genious men have invented in this country, reaping ma¬ 
chines which perform well, and have been made by one 
and the same power, to reap and to thresh the grain— 
these latter, however, are complex, and require a power 
for their use, beyond the wants or due economy of the New 
York farmer. The machine used by myself and many of 
my neighbors for several years, is the plain simple ma¬ 
chine of Mr. Hussey, moved by a pair of horses; its sim¬ 
plicity and durability entitle it to our notice; and indeed 
it would be well, that in all our machinery, these two 
qualifications were more closely attended to; for unless 
a machine is simple in its contrivance, it is useless* to 
the farmer, and unless substantially made, and strong¬ 
ly braced, there is little probability of its continuance 
over one season. With Hussey’s Reaper, we cut from 
12 to 17 acres per day—the average work done is 15 
acres per day. It requires one person to manage the 
team and another to throw off the grain:—eight men 
to bind the sheaves as fast as cut, are kept in active 
employment; and the machine costs about one hundred 
dollars. Here we have all that is necessary to show 
the economy from this labor-saving machine—let us 
test it by figures. Taking men as we find them offer¬ 
ing to labor for us, very few are capable of cradling 
more than two acres per day in a workmanlike manner, 
but to make our calculations more exact, we will sup¬ 
pose them equal to cradling two and a-half acres per 
day. A field of twenty acres in wheat will then re¬ 
quire 8 days’ cradling at $1.50 per day, is-$12 00 
16 days’ raking and binding (two binders to 
each cradle,) at $1,. 16 00 
$28 00 
Or $1.40 per acre. If an acre yields 20 bushels of 
wheat, the reaping, binding and shocking, is equal to 
seven cents per bushel. Then, if the field of 20 acres 
had been reaped by Hussey’s Machine, worked at a 
moderate pace, it would have been finished in 1^ days. 
Therefore, the cost of a team and driver at $1.50 per 
day, is.$1 88 
8 men binding for \\ days, at $1 per day,.12 00 
$13 88 
Or 69 cts. and 4 mills per acre. If the yield, as in the 
former case, is 20 bushels per acre, then the cost of 
reaping per bushel, is 3 cents and 4.7 mills; being a 
gain in favor of the reaper, of about three and a-half 
cents per bushel . The rate of wages may vary in dif¬ 
ferent places, but wall not essentially vary the above re¬ 
sult. Any farmer can make his calculations from the 
data set forth, and add a proportion of ten per cent per 
annum, on the cost of tne reaper for its wear and tear, 
distributing this charge among each of the crops reap¬ 
ed by it; as it reaps equally well, wheat, barley, rye 
and oats. 
I have before me the cost of cultivating, harvesting and 
preparing 2 different crops of wheat in my neighborhood 
the past autumn, ready for market; the cost of them 
respectively being 25^ cents, and 29f cents per bushel; 
a result of system, order and economy not to be accom¬ 
plished without the machines we have described. 
Agricola. - Seneca Co. 3 Jdpril 3 1849. 
