REAPER AND BINDER TRIAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1724, 24 December 1887, Page 2

REAPER AND BINDER TRIAL.

The first field trial of a Reaper and Binder for this season took place yesterday •tflfc Harvey 'a farm near Drumore, themaehineexhibitod being one of Aoltman and Oo'a " Bdokeye " folding Binder Harvesters, and the crop oat a fairly heavy one of oata, which though very early ; yet being oat for fodder only, were very green ! and therefore bo much heavier for a j maohlne to harvest. The Buckeye was drawn by two of Mr Harvey's horaea j easily, one of the advantages of thia machine being the very light draught compared with some other makers of Reapers and Binders, and this should cause the Buckeye to become a favorite on the plains where, m some caaes, large areas of crop tarn out light In the straw. The attendance of farmers at this trial was very fair, and the opinion of those present was greatly In favor of the machine, the various improvements made In the machine being explained by the driver ; of those apodal mention may be made of the folding action of the binder whtoh m about three minutes oan be uaahlpped from its working position and placed against the eleratoro. This, for travelling and going through gatee, etc., la a great advantage. Then >he ohaln and away bar for the knife, are done away with, a direct acting pitman doing the work very satisfactorily. Again, the finger bar and platform canvas are differently arranged to other machlnos. This alteration, with another improvement m the better belt, oanßea the sheaves to be delivered very equarely and lof uniform siz*. The machine has also a bundle or Bheaf-carrler, operated by the [ drivers foot m a simple and direct manner thia saving a good deal of labor to ' the atooklng especially where the crop is thin and light, The Appleby patent knotter la used with a Bpeclal deßlgn of catch, which is not subject to wear as m other cases. This worked well, but the twine used at this trial proved very infprlor and so caused several delays m iho cutting, by twists and breakagco m tyiDg. Of coarse this was not any fault of either j machine or driver. Mr D. Thomas is the' local agent for the " Baokeye," and was on the ground yesterday and aold the maohlne used m the trial to a well-known j plains farmer, who expressed the opinion that this maohlne would be found very suitable for the Aahburton county orops, and when the season la farther advanced and the grain crops are ready for cutting and another trial ia given no doobt this opinion will be a general one, and the " Buckeye " be seen on many farms doing its work smoothly, quickly and economically. "