The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1879-10-31
and English Farm Machinery.

In paper in Scribner for November on
'The Agricultural Distress of Great Britain"
Mr.. L. L. Quinn gives the result of personal
comparison of English and American farm
tools as follows:
American manufacturers of farm tools shape
them in such way as to do the work with
the least physical labor. The English manu-
facturer, on the other hand, has pride in
making everything substantial heavy and
solid, without any regard TO the weight or
strength needed. Why, there is more wood
and iron in an English farm-cart than would
make two American carts, and yet with their
superb roads they load theirs no heavier than
we do ours. An English manure fork is of
the same size and pattern it was half CEN
Jury ago-a square, rough tine shouldered
near the point-calling for the greatest
amount OF force in loading or unloading
The American fork is round polished tine,
tapering gradually from thepoint to the base,
and calling for the least power The weight
ofan English pillow is at least three times that
OF ours and its length about twice, and vet it
takes neither wider nor deeper furrow-slices
than our best plows. In fact, one pair of
horses attached to one of our best pattern
plows will do from a third to a half more
work in the same number of hours than an
English farmer with his long, unwieldy pat
tern that is out of all proportion, both in
length and weight, to the work it is intended
for. The same is true of the English har-
rows, cultivators and all of the implements l
found in common use for turning or cultyat-
ing the soil. The ordinary wooden hand
rake is clumsy heavy thing, having from
third to half more wood than is actually
necessary. In many instances, in going
through England have counted eight and
ten hands gathering hay into windows with
these hand-rakes, an operation very seldom,
if ever seen now in the United States. In
many of the agricultural districts which WIS.,
tied, farmers cultivating from forty to hun
dred acres of land still continue to cut their
grain with the reaping hook and cradle The
English cradle has q scythe blade of ordinary
size and length with two short wooden fin
gers. The man cutting with this cradle
throws the cut grain around against the un-
cut standing grain. Another man follows
the Grader, equipped with piece of stick
about three feet in length with an iron hook
on the end ofit and gathers the cut grain in
sheafs and places them on the stubble before
the next swath can be cut. The American,
or what is commonly called the "Yankee,"
cradle has wide scythe-blade similar in size
and length to the English, but instead of two
short fingers it has four long ones, and the
operator cuts the grain, which falls on the fin
gers and which is thrown into shcaf on the
stubble entirely out of the way of the next
GRADER who follows, leaving the cut grain
ready to be bound, one man with us doing
the work of two in England. In talking on
the subject with an intelligent farmer in Es-
sex County, England, l had difficulty in con-
vincng him that the long fingers ofthe cyan
kee" cradle would not OF could not get tan.
gled up in the straw nor could induce him
to send and get an American cradle, although
he was complaining of the high price of farm
labor when compared with the low price of
farm produce