d side by side,
and firmly riveted to a rod of iron. A lateral motion is imparted to it
by a crank, causing it to vibrate between two rows of iron spikes, which
point forward. As the machine advances, the grain is cut and falls
backwards on the platform, where it collects in a pile. A man is placed
on the part of the platform directly behind the horses, and with a rake
of peculiar construction pushes off the grain in separate bunches, each
bunch making a sheaf. It may appear to some that the grain will
accumulate too rapidly for this man to perform his duty. But, upon
considering the difference between the space occupied by the grain when
standing, and when lying in a pile after it is cut, it will be evident
that the raker has ample time to push off the bunches even in the
thickest grain. In thin grain he has to wait until sufficient has
collected to form a sheaf.

"The machine is driven around the grain, which may be sown either on a
smooth surface or on corn ridges. For the first round a way may be
cleared with a cradle; but this is deemed unnecessary, for the grain,
when driven over, is left in an inclined position, and by cutting it in
the opposite direction as much of it is saved as with a cradle. Fourteen
acres in corn lands were cut between 10 A. M. and 7-1/2 P. M. The hands
had never worked with the machine before, nor was it a trial day's work;
for, owing to the shortness of the straw, the machine was not allowed to
cut when passing over the ridges from one side of the ground to the
other, and this time was consequently lost. From the principle on which
the cutting is performed, a keen edge to the cutter is by no means
essential. The toughest weeds, an occasional corn stalk, or a stick of
the thickness of a man's little finger, have been frequently cut without
at all affecting its operation; it can be sharpened, however, in a few
minutes with a file. The width of the swath may be increased by having
the cutter made longer, and the same machine will cut a stubble of
several different heights.

[Sidenote: Mr. Hussey Awarded Silver Cups]

"There is ample room to make the different parts of any size, though the
strength of every part has been fully tested. The machine has been often
choked by oyster-shells getting into the cutter, in attempting to cut
too low a stubble. The motion of the machinery being checked, the main
wheels slide on the ground; the strain on every part being equal to the
power exerted by the