The tension of the string which
binds the sheaves varies a good deal in this machine, some of the
sheaves being rather too loosely held together, while at other times the
fault is in the other direction. In Messrs. Howard's machine there is a
tendency in the sheaves to cling together, but this is not accompanied
to any extent with missing the binding. Mr. King attempted a run after
the three last had finished their plots; but his machinery had not been
fully adjusted, and after one course the trial stopped. As far as one
could judge from this short performance, the chief fault in the sheaf
produced was the uncertain position of the string upon it. Sometimes
this was near the bottom of the straw, and sometimes among the corn.
Unfortunately at 11:25 the rain began, and experiments were stopped till
the afternoon. It was no light shower which could give a check to the
ardor of the judges and other officers of the society, but a heavy
downpour of some hours' duration, which soaked the crop through and
through. Indeed, we think it a pity that the experiments should have
been continued at all under circumstances in which practical harvesting
would have been out of the question. However, after a short lull in the
rain, the machines of Mr. Wood, Messrs. Samuelson, and the McCormick
Harvesting Company went into the wet barley.
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