AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AT THE VICORIAN EXHIBITION

Dunstan Times, Issue 976, 31 December 1880, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AT THE VICORIAN EXHIBITION

j (Extract from a C n-resp m 1.-id's letter ) | Two great linns have distinguishe I themselves as linkers of reams an! i hinders. Wait, r Wo id an I Mdlonuick, and these are well represente I in the J2xhihiiinii. So far colonial inukeis have n >t gone, into th • li d I to any extent, hut for a 1 that they are likely to soon take up the ■ iiisioess, w'meli they do m and defence, for the old-fishi med harvesters will not s-dl Tne ditii'-iilty, however, is how to keep up with i iv.m ion ; m ik rs, m lee 1. resento|e the man who was racing horn ■, and when asked iho reas m. said “ he ha 1 jn-t houghs a new lomiio forliis wif •, and wanted to get horn ■ hj fore the fishim would change'.” A Victorian linn well ko svii for its eusorpris-, oxh’ ! 'i r sn st.hio hinder, how-ver, Messes Hnm'da an • Nicholson, of tlen'oiig, oatle 1 P„pi-i--'s patent. Competent m n w m have exi limed this machine, pronounce it as go , 1 a, the im'Orte I, if not tetter, Mr Furrier has given veins of thou.hi to the invention, and Mr Ui'-oni", of the great Ipswich Englan I firm of that nioc. has pure iused tin, pa*.-nt for Urea- li it„a n I'ij , machine seem? aimpler th n ih , maiiri'y ex dhi'C l- a great reemimeiid.ition l i regard to all these imiehou's it nny he m ntioned that they are sli nvn at work win ling, whidi etui ties farmers an I til, uuhlie roun lerstand their use. I:, sli ai .| lie un letsto id r.luit the difference he ween wire and string bin lers is that in the one case there is a i apparatus to twist ihe ends nif and cut tile wee, in other a eouiriv inoe which ties a k iot. Of all the machines exlubicl I take the M V wmiek lir*r. of the foreign, hecanse of the g e Per simplicity of tin, mode nr its in ling. Tn • gear hj th ■ Sira- for stri -g or woe, except rhar. ill f.ee former case a knot tier is substituted f n- a wire twist. As the Wheat eom„s in i is graspe I hy two arms in a simple way. tied, and let ™i Tie re. w re dotihs exp e-sed as to wether this won d mv lea l Ip maml> aka es f-he snug, but rh • Horsham trial app -ars to hj ivo reso v >1 th at* To M'Oormick bindcs seem to me the ]■ -1 farmers’ frien i. Mo e compicared : ip., imposing is the Wood harvester, which dia. plays great ingenuity and perfection. It w oka in an entirely automate way, thus relieving the driver . f care and icspinsibi ity. The cut wheat is taken int, a sort of box automatic dly packed, ant, as the binding guar does not set to w irk uu'it the box is tilled, the sheaves are uniform, and i' makes no difference whether • he crop is thin nr thick. A “ packer ” ho'da the bundle until it grows to a certain size with the aid of a K vor. When the sheaf reaches the proper dimensions, the lever automatically throws the packer out of gear ] and sets the binder in gear d’iio wi’udin r j "arm” passes round the she if, the knot | tier does its work, the entte* ii s business, and ,a discharging a,mt delivers the ah-af. I oonfe.-s it is a m.arval of mechanism. The driver of this machine has little tn,'o except to gnidahis horses and to witch for short or long wheat, a crauk at Lie side eu-

— T—filling to movo the hinder so as to always ensute that the sheaves will be bound in the middle. If I understand the machine j and the explanations given, its speuitio feature is that it ensures a compressed and I “ taut” sheaf without straining the string ; 1 and further, all the parts cin be seen and oiled and tended without trouble. Several trials of the machine have boon ma le in Australia, and with great, success, Another machine which has a different action is the Johnson Harvester, exhibited by the John son Harvester Company. A strong cord holds down the sheaf while it is being bound. There are none of these in the market, hut the action of the machine in the Exhibition is pood, though what it would do iu a Held of grain is difficult to say ; I do not think it is equal to the others mentioned. A much more snpe r i r machine, and very similar to Woods’, is the Ueering, the fifferenoß aiipciriiig to ho that in the latter tile sheaf is bonn 1 from below, in the former from above, which seems the better plan. A revolving web is used to place the wheat in position for binding, wh le provision is made for uniformity of sheaf, the size of which can ho regulated. The demand for these machines are very gret this season. Wood bringing four thousand out curing the past eight months, while Deering is to turn out e ei’cn thousand for thisseison, M ‘Cormb-k an equal amount, and the others proportionately. I may here mention that Messrs Shuttieworth, who exhibit the Johnston Harvester, told -no i hey intend to ini mit a new machine, the Gleaner, which is intended to follow ordinary reaping machine 1 ’ .and bin I tbe grain, | being worked wuii on - horse. Large farmers will never require this michine, but it. will be highly useful to a numerous class of smaller men who have ordinary reapers an I cum't atf nd just yet to go in for reapers and bindcs combined, at least until their machine is worn out. (t will also be useful to those who do not grow largely. 1 have seen >h" invention sneered at m the press, but 1 think farmers will agree with m' it will prove very useful in many oases, and I look with interest to its intro’notion. In concluding this notice of harvesters, I must o m rratulaco on" f inners on living so well attended to. and pro lie! tha j the improvement of agricultural appliances is 1m in its i ifancy.