River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-07-23
Trial of the Irvine Binders,

The trial of the binders on July 10th,
on the Ben. Sweet farm, two miles south
| of the city, was very successful. The day
was suspicious, and the agents of the
various machines were happy and hope
| full, with their experts and general agents
| to lend them help and encouragement.
| The trial was advertised to be given at
o'clock, but long before this time there
were scores Of enthusiastic and Interested
| farmers on the ground, waiting for the
! onslaught of the binders upon a beauti-
| fui field of straight standing rye. As the
| different machines came upOn the scene,
| each was followed by long line of men
| in carriages, and on horseback; remind
! ing one Of some oriental pageant, trlum-
| phal procession, or good old fashioned
| lth of July celebration. The crowd in
| creased in numbers, until there were not
| less than two hundred men in the field.
| There we've four binders IN the contest,
| three well known, and tried; and ranked
| the world over as machines of the first
| class ORDER but the fourth was a stranger
| in this vicinity and was to make its debut
| in this field Of rye, on this goth of July.
| 1t no doubt was the presence of this
| stranger which was attracting SO many
people to the field Of contest. The new
| machine was the "Winona," manufac-
tured in Winona, Mimi, and handled in
our GAIN DN W ~ AoillIlhtC N W. AlN RNAACA
machines represented were the McCor-
mick, Wood, and Deering light junior,
| handled respectively by Tozer, Reynolds,
and Lee Ravens, of this city, OF course,
| all ewes were upon the stranger, and her
| every part suffered q minute inspection,
| and all were impatient to see her take
| the field. After some consultation and
| speecl-making, the word was given, and
| all was ready. The WinOna went first,
| followed respectively by the Junior
| Deering, Mccormick, and the Walter \.
| Wood All Of these binders were per-
| fectlv new, and adjusted just as they are
| as they come from the hands of the
| makers. The first round was made by
| all Of the machines without halt, and
| without bundle skipped, save by the
! Deering, which failed to bind two
| sheaves. 1t was now evident to the
| loOkers-on that the old stand-bys had
met no easy opponent in the trim cutting
| Winona. Here 4 halt was called for the
selection Of judges, and for general
| preparation for the contest. 1t was
decided by the agents represented, that
they would select two persons from the
company, and that these two should
select two of the judges, and the two
Judges selected should select the third.
The selection resulted in ). Is. Wales,
John Burnett and Leonard Stiles. The
Judgment of the judges was to be based
upon the general character of the work
| done and the comparative ease with
which the machines did 1t. The tl1al
now was to begin in earnest. The ma
| chimes led oil in the same order with
wnich they began, Eut were to change at
: each round of the field, the first going
last The machines all worked aitel
their usual iirst-cass Workmanship, and
50 perfectly did they cut the grain AND
) dispose of the bundles, tlat 4 casual OBJ
server would have bad hard work To have
> told which was the best An cNamlna
ton Of the sheaves as they lay upon the
ground was considered one OF the bcs
tests Of the quality OF the work. All o
the bundles were found TO be not Of tht
same size, the Wood machine bindm.
the largest bundle,-too large 1t WAS SAT-
by the owner of the field of rye, and con
sequently binding it somewhat tighter
but the bundle in almost every instance
&, was found to be t;,n-shaped at the butts
+ and many scatterings which the banl
did not enclose. The Mccormick hounC
It's bundles well, and although they were
flat, yet they were well enclosed. Hit
] only misfortune of this machine WAS L
!. have skipped one or two SbVayCs. AtterN
true historic record it neither stayed no
; halted iii its work, bat Went into tine lal
n vest and came oUt % il SGttt Inc peer
;, ing, aside from the fact that its blndc
failed in good many Instances To do 1t
work. succeeded Wei. The Ninpna
q binding, save that Its bundles were no
= quite 50 large as the Wood, ami there
fore preferable for the harvest, and no
2 unite 50 tight, diI its work to perfection
4 Its bundle is round, the shcat well but
e ted and no loose gatherings at TIN
a band. Even the agents Of the other ma
c | chimes declared it to be the plettIes
l. bundle they ever saw come from
binder. 1t took the iirst sheaf of rye u
the field and the last one, and neve
r stopped for breakage or adjustment, say
for the purpose Of tightening the bind
. inc nj the request OF the Judges, an
. neref Skipped q 51utdle. 1t ought to b.
= said for this machine that WINE All q
the other binders came INTO the held VIII
y their friends, this one came alone, L
e make it's friends, or win defeat. At Tia
n close Of the contest it did not lack ad
+ mirers; and if there was 10 first place t
win for it, il surely needed no ribbons
for it had spoken Tor itself; and the PEG
o pie accorded ii its place in the front rank
I of the Irvine blndeir ot the age, standing
n upon its merits with those which mass
!. served the country well.
, The only mishup which came on thu
field during the cutting 81 the ten acre
} occurred to the Wood. 1t had to stop to
{ repairs The machine seemed ciogge'
a and could not be started for some time
| The Winona being just behind the Woo,
passed it, taking its svath 1t was foun,
chat the trouble had come from a broker
S finger on the packer The decay gave
: the Wood one less round in the after
r noon than the rest Of the machines. Tit
4 general agent was no doubt disappointed
h over this misfortune, and sought at thu
,. close of the contest, Just before the Judge
] rendered their decision, to regain tn
place which the Wmoha had taken from
him. and the extra round Hhiei I'll th'
e machines had won. by treating TN
5 crowd to cigars. Tie contest upon ;
VT ole was a very fair one, and While th'
crowd was large and enthusiastic, it wa
n Guict end respectful. Below we give Tx
! decision Of the judges;
The Wood binds the largest bundle and light
/ | est but lett most sCattcriEagS.
Wincna did It's work well but Gid MOI bind a
lar1, bundle nor bind as 'tght. Missed n'
7 bundles.
Mccormick did It's work we'll Missed tlein:
= | some sheaEcs. Draft aJoIt the same ms Noot
I ! and Wiuuna.
9 Dccrug I4htest draft. bu. missed binding
| great many bundles.