REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES AT THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIII, Issue 899, 8 February 1856, Page 4

REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES AT THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.

The following report of a trial of the capabilities of the reaping and mowing machines sent to Paris for exhilition, is taken from the Cotislitutionnel, of the 7th August : The second day of August having been appointed for the final trial of all the reaping and mowing machines in the Exposition, the trial accordingly came off on that day. There were ten machines in the Exposition ; nine of them were sent out by the Imperial Commissioner to the place of trial, about forty miles distant. It may be here remarked that the machines were gent out and returned free of cost to the exhibitors. On the ground of the trial there were thousands of people assembled to witness the novelty of the day ; large tents had been previously erected, and a large supply of refreshments procured for the occasion. The day was pleasant and the excitement of the immense concourse of people intense. The police were in attend: n 2 upon horseback. The militia were in requisition, with guns and bayonets, to keep the crowd of eager spectators from off the grain. Stakes were driven into the ground and ropes drawn from Stake to stake, until the entire field of about fifteen acres wns surrounded. This was a field of an ordinary growth of oats t and standing up well, and which was divided into lots or pieces of about an acre each, by swaths being cut through at a given distance, parallel with each other — each piece beirg numbered, and one machine allotted o each piece At - the beat of the drum three b

t machines ttarted off together. J. ?. Wright 1 s, ' of Chicago, 111. managed by his agent, Mr Jew- [ el; Patrick Hell's machine, by Mr. Fuurent, > and a machine from Algiers These machines, being calculated to do their own raking *<y ma- ' chinery. Wrights machine cuts its piece in . twenty-four minutes; ' ell's in sixty-six mi- ■ nutcsjand the Algiers machine in sc\ en t)-Uo ' minuteß The raking or discharging of the giain from all of the thioe machines was badly done, the grain being much scattered in its delivery upon the ground— Wright's doing much the lest The cutting howtner, was well dune The mechanical movement of the autuman raker of Wrights machine was truly wonderful. The operation of the machine was highly successful. Bell's machine, by Foureut, did the cutting and gathering of the grain in a very neat manner ; the graiu was delivered freely to one side of the machine for the biuders. After the jurors h;id carefully noted the trial thus far, the signal again was given, and off staited three other machines — J. H. Manney's of Rockford, 111., man»ged by his agent Mr. Mabie; Bell's machine by Croskill : and a French one-borse reaper. Manny's cut its piece in twenty-two minutes ; Bell's by Croskill pnd the one-horse French reaper failed to cut their pieces; while Manny's did its woik in the most exquisite manner, not leaving a single stalk ungathered ; and it discharged tho grain in the most perfect shape, as if placed by hand for the binders. It finished its piece most gloriously : the jurors themselves could not restrain their admiration, but ciied out, "good," "well done" The people anplauded and hurrahed for Manny's American Reaper- "that's the machine." Again, after the jury had taken furtl er notes of the trial, the signal was given, and three other machines started off on the contest — Hussy's Eeapcr, by Dray; M'Cormick's, by M'Kenzie; and Hell's ;by Perry Hussy's machine cut its piece in thirty m'nntcs, M'Cormick's in twenty minutes, and Bell's failed to finish its piece Hussy's machine did its work remarkably well, cutting clean and smoothly, and leaving the grain in the track of the machine in good condition for the binders This machine was conceded to be too heavy and | labouris for the team, and leaving the grain in the track of the machine was found to be an objection, as it necessarily needed to be boun'l and ! removed as fast as the machine did its work, in order that the machine could pass around a succeeding time; yet this reaper is unquestionably a 'good one, t>nd may be used to great advantage, as f it would likely prove durable, being very strongly I made. McConnick's machine performed its task J well, cutting a close and even swath, but the raikeror attendant, who performed the labour of discharg'ng the grain, seemed to be very much I strained, leing obliged to tide backward upon the \ machine, at one end of the reel, having to reach , fully across tho. entire width of the machine with 1 a long handled lake, to gather the grain and lay it off of the machine. The horses on this ma chine were much troub'ed by a strong lateral pressure against their shoulders, occasioned by the tongue of the machine This reaper on the 1 whole is much too cumbersome and he;.\y for two horses. However, it has proven itself uistly >ujerior to any of the inventions of the old world, and from the fact of its great success heretofore,, particularity at the London Exhibition in ISSI it elicited a good deal of admiration and ctnlo^ity. - The contest was now fairly narrowed down to | three machine?, Manny's, Wrights and M< Corinick's. But on starting Wrights again, it broke down, and left the sti uggle exclusively to the two , machines, Manny's <md McCoimick's. Tho two machines wre then to he chanced in .. l pios< i>ce vl the jurors, from the capacity of reaping to (hat, [of mowing. Manny's made the clnwigo in <ue . 'minute. McCcnniek's in twenty minutes with j ] three men. Each machine made one cut thiorgh J the field of grass and back, Manny's machine j ' doing the best of the two. Tl en the change , was made aga ; n for reaping, and in the b:\iue 1 time respectively as before. Then both machines I were taken into a wheat field. Manny's, machine , cut three swaths, and with an ease of action and 1 peifection of woik which fuirly placed it far be- , yond any further competition; though McCorm icks reaper cut two swaths, and in a workmanj like manner. Even it the two machines were ■equal as to the quality of the work, yet it was observed Manny's would have the advantage of being the most compact, les«s cumbersome, and of much less weight than McCorraiek's, and in Manney's there id no lateral pressure against the horses as by McCormicks, also of being much the lightest draft, and more easily adjustable to different heights of cutting, and most easily conver- ! tible for the two purposes of reaping and mowj ing. This seemed to be the ouly machine j against which there could be no objection urged. We could give no better evidence of the facts above than the fact that Mr Mabie had, upon the conclusion of the tiial, several very large offers for the patents of the machine, two of which we heard: for France, one offer was one hundred thousand francs, and one of one hundred and twenty-five thousand francs. We have since learned arrangements have been made for the manufacture of one thousand of these machines in this city for the next han^st. The decision and report of the jury will not be published until the latter part of October, yet all the laurel, we are free to confess, having been glowingly won by Americans; and this achievement cannot be looked upon with indifference, as it but plainly foreshadows the ultimate destiny of the New World.

Natural, Curiosity. — A remarkable instance of the tenacity of life in the minute sp> rules of the fungus tribe of vegetable, and of the extraordinary efforts that nature will make to fulfil the designs of creative wisdom even under the most unfavourable circumstances, was brought under our notice on the 29th ult. by Mr. Levitt, in Upgate. Within a foot of the hearthstone of the common living-room of his house, a single brick had risen above tlie level of the floor to the extent of an inch, although coveied with a carpet and hearthrug Supposing this to be the work of vermin in some way, the brick, was re*hioved, though with much difficulty, and strange to tell the cavity was found to be occupied with an imimpeifectly formed fungu3, which competent authority pronounced to be the common edible mushroom. The form of its top or pilous was that of a simicircle of about three inches larl'us, but the most remarkable feature of its strnctuie was, that the stem, as if to piovide itself a basin for its lifting power, had extended itself to more than three times its usual proportion of thickness. The floor has Leen laid eleven yeara, and it would be interesting to ascei tain what peculiar arrangement of circumstances has at length stimulated the imprisoned sporule into v'ta! developement. — Lincolnshire Times.

Remarkable Vine. — One of the mi :or curiosities of Paris is an enormous vine which ornaments the court of a house in the Rue^des Maiuis St. Germain It is said to have been planted by Racine, and supposing that he did it in the last year of his life, the vine must now be not less than 155 years of ago, as that celebiated writer died in 1699 It is this year in an unusually flourishing condition and cove-red with fine fruit.