BINDER TRIAL.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 6952, 30 January 1890, Page 3

BINDER TRIAL.

TO THE BDITQB, Slit, -Can the effect*, of prejudice in connection with these trials be averted ? I don't mean to infer that the judges aio consoiouriy prejudiced or preposseftsed ; on the contrary, I believe that it would bo hard to find fairer all-round men than those gelectfd to judgo last Monday. For all that, however, many think the result would have been different had the work b«en judged somewhat on th» principle of

the band oontests-~by work only,— whoro the judges did not know ut tho timo of judging whose work they were trying. This would work well in the headings ''.sheaf, etc," cleanliness of cut and delivery," and " knotting. " Say that tho machines competing in thoHe classes entered the paddock in tho absence of the judgos, drew lots for their orop, and cut it, each one attended only by its own •Iriver, and let the work bo judged on its nioiils'ns lots 1, 2, 3, etc, simply. This would, of course, be in addition to those tests that are necessarily sight tests, and would obviate tho possibility of any favoritism. I could not help thinking tho results would have been otherwise in some cases had the names been different. Take for instance the case of tho Massoy, which aggregated 41 points for "simplicity of construction," whilst it was ap* p.irent to everyone that she had boon simplified to such an extent that three sots of lovers and gearings which are to be found on the machines scoring higher had been entirely done without. The mime reason should havo operated in tho next heading, " machinery and accessibility for repairs." Looking at the heading "security of knotting," wo find the M'Oormiok 35 as against Reid and Gray 34, while both missed exactly the same number of sheaves. Is this the fault of tho machine which competed or its pre1 rious reputation ? The tiext heading where judging is required is " Cleanness of cutting and dohvorjr," and I cannot help taking oxcoption to the judging hero. I saw th© cuts made by the two machines placed first with 40 and 00 carefully compared with that of the Massey (credited with 45), and could not help thinking that some of the judges must have transposed their figures. In the case of tho Massey the stubble was shorter, the cut wider and cleaner, and not a single straw left lying either in the cut or dropped with the sheaf. All pos< sibility of favoi itism in this class would have been avoided in a test on tho terms suggested by me. I havo taken the troublo to verify my facts by seeing the same machine at work in a far worse crop to cut than that negotiated at tho trial, and I would liko to place a L 5 note against that of any other person ready to back cither of the other machines m a test on the above principles in a trial on the paddock of crop I to-day saw the Massoy machine working in, being part of Messra M 'Master's late Seau'eld estate, near Hilderthorpe. Ak for tho hillside tost, that on Monday was mere lottery, and depended entirely on the country drawn by each machine. I would say, let the judges select a piece of ground, and in addition to any other test let each machine bo driven over it both "in gear " and " out of gear," and with the little wheel up hill one way and down lull tho other. If modern science does so much for us in the way of machinery, the least we can do is to devise a thoroughly trying test of its efficiency, and thus show that we are practical farmers. DIBIOTKKK&TED.