TRIAL OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1205, 2 January 1875, Page 6

TRIAL OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES.

The trial eff the reaping and mowing machines (says the Melbourne Weekly News of tho 28th ult.) exhibited at the late show of the National Agricultural Society for prizes given by the Department of Agriculture took place on Tuesday at the Moonee Ponds, on a farm belonging to Mr. Hurtle Fisher. The day was cool and pleasant, and every way favourable for the occasion, but the attendance of visitors was not so large as might have been expected, not more than 300 being present. The trials commenced with the mowing machines, which were to have been started at ten o'clock, but owing to some delay in getting them into their places they did not start till twenty minutes to eleven o'clock. The crop upon which the trials were made was oats, la. *2v. 25p. being allotted to each machine. The crop was not so favourable for the occasion as could have been wished, being very foul with weeds, but as each allotment was pretty well alike in this respect, t^e competitors were on an equal footing. The lumber of competitors in this class ■wnq m'.^o, and the work upon the whole could not N better ; each machine did its work well, anC? i* fUBtf UBt have beenpuzzling to the judges to *> aye decided which was best, as quickness wa," » ot supposed to be taken into consideration. *{ owe . ve £. they awarded the first prize to fc^- J - ™ loi " son, whose machine, having a ot cut of sft. 3in., finished in 45min., . uncl the work first-class. Mr. Nicholson also took a second prize with a machine cutting sft. 6in., and finishing in 66min. The third prize was taken by T. Robinson and ■Co,, with a machine that did its work exceedingly well, and finishing in 74min, The second in point of time was one of T, JJofcingpa^ jn&chines, which finished fta

work in 55min. ; Swan and Co. coming next with a combined reaper and mower, which made some excellent work, finishing in 57min. Mr. H. Lennon had two machines, both making excellent work, one finishing in 63min., and the other having met with an accident was unable to finish. T. Henderson and Co. had a combined mower and reaper, which worked very Avell, finishing in 72 mm. J. Musgrove, of Oaklands Junction, finished some very nice work in 65 mm., and would no doubt have been done sooner but he had a rather awkward piece of ground, with a waterhole in the centre. After the allotments were cut each machine was paraded (working) in rotation, so that the judges should be able to make a better comparison of the work. The reapers were started to work soon after 2 o'clock, in a fair upstanding crop of rye, each machine having one acre and twentynine perches. Twelve machines put in an appearance for this contest, and the work done by them was really splendid. Mr. J. Nicholson again took first and second prizes, finishing in both cases in 36 mm. Mr. H. Lennon took third with his Champion reaper, finishing some capital work in 41min. Hutcheson and Walker, of Kyneton, made some very nice work, finishing in 36min. Another machine belonging to Mr. Lennon finished in 39 mm. Swan and Co. had two machines, one, a back-delivery, finished some beautiful work in 44min. The time taken by the others was — T. Henderson and Co., 43min. and46min. ; T. Robinson and Co. , 49min. and 53min. The machines were afterwards tried together in the same way as the moWers the two side-delivery machines working together. Both these worked very well, but Roy's patent, by Swan and Co., worked splendidly, cuttingboth higher and lower than the other. It was thought to be rather singular that the judges should make no mention of these machines, which, as they save the labour of a man in the field, are not to be .despised, especially when they work as well as the others. The judges were, however, pleased to state that the work performed was first-class, and that they had never seen anything equal to it before in their lives, and that a few years back it would have been impossible. The arrangements, which gave general satisfaction, were planned and carried out entirely by the energetic secretary of the society, Mr. W. Macfarlane.