The Portland daily press., 1879-10-28
AGRICULTURAL.
American and English Farm Machinery.

American and English Farm Machinery.
In paper III Scribner for November on
''The Agricultural Distress of Great Brit
ain" Mr.. P. T. Quinn gives the result OF
personal comparison of English and Ameri-
can 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
manufacturer. 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 heavl-
err than we do ours. An English manure
fork is of the same size and pattern it was a
half century ago-a square, rough tine,
shouldered near the point, calling Tor the
greatest amount of force in loading and UNI
loading. The American fork is a round
POLISHED tine, tapering gradually from the
point TO the base, and calling for the least
bower. The weight of an English pillow is at
least three times that of ours and its length
about twice. and yet it takes neither wider
ncr deeper furrow-slices than our best plows
In fact, one pair of horses attached to one OF
our best pattern plows will do from third
to a half more work in the same number OF
hours than an English farmer with his long,
unwieldy pattern that is out OF all proper
ton, both in length and weight, to the work
it is intended for. The same is true OF the
English harrows, cultiyators, and all OF the
indictments | found in common use for
turning and cultvating the soil. The ordi-
nary wooden mandrake is d clumsy, heavy
thing. having from a third to half more
wood than is absolutely necessary. In many
T., ,ol, Epu / have
counted eight and ten hands gathering hay
into windows with these hand-rakes, an
operation very seldom, if ever, seen now III
the United States. In many OF the agricui-
tural districts which | visited, farmers Guilt
waiting from forty to a hundred acres OF land
still continue to cut their grain crops with
the reaping hook and cradle. The English
cradle has scythe blade of ordinary size
and length, with two short wooden fingers
The man cutting with this cradle throws
the cut grain around against the uncut stand
ING grain. Another man follows the GRADER
equipped with piece Of stick about three
feet in length with an iron hook on the end
of it, and gathers the cut grain into sheafs
and places them on the stubble before the
next swath can be cut. The American, or
what is commonly called the Yankee era
die 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 fingers and which is thrown into sheaf
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 talk
ing on the subject with an intelligent farmer
in Essex County, England, had difficulty
in convincing him that the long fingers OF
the yankee" cradle would not or could not
get tangled up in the straw, nor could in
duce him to send and get an American era
die, although he was complaining of the
high price Of farm labor when compared
with the low price of farm produce.