IMPORTANT TO FARMERS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8331, 6 April 1889, Page 5

IMPORTANT TO FARMERS.

IMPROVED HARVESTING MACHINERY THE BUCKEYE LOWDOWN REAPER AND BLNDEB. We have recently had the opportunity of inspecting a specimen of the latest typo of the Buckeye harvester. This is the machine known as tho Buckeye Lowdown reaper and binder, and it is in view at T. and S. Morrin and Co.'a fligh-stroet premises, Auckland. We are British enough to rejoice when English mechanical genius triumphs over that of other countries, but we aro also British enough to appreciute a good thing when we ace it, and fairly admit its merits wherever it comes from. The makers of the Buckeye machines are Aultman, Miller and Co., of Akron, Ohio, U.S.A., and the special mechanical features and improvements adopted in t:ie Lowdown machine, now under notice, have been prelected by New Zealand letters patent. One noticeable characteristic of American inventors and manufacturers of machinery is their sagacity and acuteneas in devising mechanical appliances adapted to apecial conditions. This is what so often in the colonies gives American implements the victory over British made goods. We regard the Buckeye Lowdown reaper and binder as a marvel of inventive ingenuityand practical skill in producing exactly what is wanted for a certain purpose. The ohief objects to achieve in an ideal harvester, are a maximum excellence of work with a minimum expenditure of manual and horso labour. But the best machine must not only be able to d.o the best work nnder certain circumstances, but it shoiild be adapted to do tho best work on the level or the hill side, and. in long or short, heavy or 1 light, crops, Judged by Uieae require- i ments, the Buckeye Lowdon, so far as we can get at the truth of the matter, is decidely ahead of all other reapers nnd ' binder*. It is at least 3001bu lighter than any of the eleva^pr Machines, being as easily worked, with two horses as tb^e Jattar,.' are with three. It has [ been, praotically tested in ttua ooiouy by many Southern farmery a,a to its adaptability for hillside work, and their testimony is that the Buckeye Lowdown can out on as steep Biddings as any back-delivery machine, thus saving the labour of sis or seveH men binders, while its weight ie but very little more than an ordinary reaper. Itscojsstr^clion is so arranged tb,at tlw weight of gearing, etp., is gll ca the platform side of ths driving wheel, thus rendering it perfectly safe against tho risk (,f capsizing on the sleepest sidelings ever cropped. The total weight is about 9001bB, and its lightness! 9? drau.gUt has been spec^ly parked, uroji' by alt I who. have iyor,he.d i,t pn bil\y country, of which we have a groat deal in New Zealand,. This «)cne would stamp the implement as being suited to our special requirements, so long as it holds its own with other machines as (0 quantity and quality of work done. This Buokpjfa sjoes not claim to be " all steel,'' 'ouj a judicious combination of steel and malleable iron, very few eastings being used in its ooustrnction. As compare^ with other maohinos it has teWisr w\wii\g parts, having in this latest pattern discarded the Intermediate gearing at o»e time in use for working the binder, Another special feature is the one platform canvas, instead of the elevator canvases. The grain is cut in the ordinary way and carried to the teddors by the platform canvas, It is then tied and delivered in sheaves of any aisse to the sheaf carrier, and dumped by the driver as he finds it convenient. One of the chief improvements in the present machine, ever its original of a few years ago, is a uioveable binder with greatly Increased width of oanvas, which fits It for baudling the heaviest and tall est crops. Another improvement is a higher knife speed, which haa the effect of preventing choking when working in damp straw, or whero the undergrowth is thick and green. Both the driving and grain wheels are on the suspension principle patented by the proprietors. The measurement of the Lowdown is 10 feet 6 inches over all, and thus it can be taken through any ordinary gateway with perfect ease. The driver has merely to work the foot-lever to throw the machine out of gear, and that done he can drive off at once to any part of the farm or district. These are practioal merits which all farmers will recognise and appreciate, and we anticipate a quick sale of the shipment shortly to arrire in Auckland to the order of Messrs Morrin and Co. We may add that this machine has been successfully used in the south to cut and bind cooUfoot and ryegrasa. The only machine of this type tried in this provincial district is one bought five yearß ago by Mr Geo. Halley, of Cam. bridge, Waikato, and he has the very highest opinion of its merits, although be improvements sinoe effected make it long wny behind the present pattern. — New Zealand Farmer. [Since the aTjove was penned by the Editor for the September issue of the T . Z. Fgtriner. this machine has been sent to the Waikato, and tried in a difficult orpp of, green oat?, in the presenoe of a large gathering of farmers. There wa.ano.tthe slightest hitch and the ectiro season's stock was disposed of, together with five additional machines nhich the General Agent agreed to ship from the South on arrival of the "Anabuoc." The new Knotter, a simplified adoption of the appleby — consisting of fewer parts all of which are in sight and adjustable without expert knowldege — worked perfectly, aud unanimous approval was expressed with the construction and working of the machine. One gentleman of acknowledged experience who had previously orderod a new '88 Hornsby promptly cancelled hia order aud took a Buckeye. Farmers requiring one this season will do well to communicate with Messrs B. W. Mills and Co., Limited, Wellington, 01 Meaßra Alex. Jones & Sods, Waipakurau, who have only a limited number left for disposal.*]