Being a true record of his life 
 and struggles to introduce his 
 greatest invention, the reaper, 
 and its success, as gathered 
 from pamphlets published here- 
 tofore by some of his friends 
 and associates, and reprinted 
 in this volume, together with 
 some additional facts and tes- 
 timonials from other sources. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 FOLLETT L. GREENO
 
 COPYRIGHTED 1912 
 BY FOLLETT L. GREENO
 
 PREFACE 
 
 EVERY STEP in the progress of modern 
 achievement has been met with strong 
 resistance and hostile contest. There is in 
 business an actual firing line where continu- 
 ous conflict wages, and so fierce does the strug- 
 gle become that it requires a certain class of 
 men possessing qualities, not only of energy 
 and perseverance, but of tenacity and combat- 
 iveness, aggressive and determined to fight to 
 the last ditch for commercial supremacy. Such 
 men do not always rely upon the merits of their 
 cause, nor do they stop to question the justice 
 or injustice of their methods. They have but 
 one goal, commercial supremacy, and every 
 effort is bent and every man and method util- 
 ized to attain that end. 
 
 Men of inventive genius are rarely of that 
 type. They are more often unassuming and 
 averse to anything like a personal combat. 
 Such a man was Obed Hussey, inventor of the 
 reaper. Honest and conscientious, enured to 
 hard and unremitting toil, with the inspiration 
 of a new idea for the benefit of mankind burn- 
 ing in his brain, he applied himself in the face 
 of immense difficulties to the production and 
 perfection of the great gift which he gave to 
 the world. He was a man at once so humble 
 and so broad in his kindness, so loyal to his
 
 Quaker ideals of righteousness and justice, 
 that he offered no protests, or arguments 
 against his rivals and opponents other than the 
 superiority of his own machine. Only his 
 great genius which produced the superior ma- 
 chine (a fact which no one could possibly con- 
 tradict) could have saved him from the fierce 
 opposition of his more powerful rivals. One 
 has only to read from some of his own letters 
 reproduced in this narrative, to witness the 
 fairness of his attitude, or to gain a knowledge 
 of his scruples. 
 
 Yet it was just this which has operated to 
 deprive Obed Hussey of his well deserved 
 fame as inventor of the reaper. Moreover, a 
 great industry, fostered by his opponents in 
 the patent controversy, has grown up, the basis 
 and life of which is Obed Hussey's invention 
 of the reaper. It would seem that the vast 
 fortunes made from this industry should be 
 ample reward for those who are receiving the 
 benefits of a man's life work without whose 
 genius it would never have been. 
 
 In 1897 there was published in Chicago a 
 booklet entitled "A Brief Narrative of the In- 
 vention of Reaping Machines," a large part of 
 which is reproduced in this book. The pam- 
 phlets of which the narrative was a republica- 
 tion were from the pen of Edward Stabler, an 
 able man and a mechanic of great skill and
 
 ability, a close friend of Mr. Hussey and one 
 familiar with his reaper and with all the facts 
 which he set forth in these articles. Such 
 other facts and information as are published 
 herein were furnished by Martha Hussey, 
 daughter of Mr. Hussey, now living and by 
 my uncle, Hon. Alexander B. Lamberton, who 
 married Mr. Hussey's widow. Mr. Lamberton 
 is a man of high standing, having for many 
 years taken an active part in the affairs of 
 Rochester. He was President of the Roches- 
 ter Chamber of Commerce, 1901-1904 (three 
 successive terms), and has been President of 
 the Rochester Park Board for the past eleven 
 years. He also won national fame as a hunter 
 and naturalist and was President of the Na- 
 tional Association for the Protection of Fish 
 and Game. His relation to the Hussey family 
 has made him conversant with the whole his- 
 tory of the invention of the reaper and of Mr. 
 Hussey's early struggles. 
 
 The facts as set forth in this volume are 
 well known to the reaper men of the United 
 States, men high up in the industry. Had 
 Mr. Hussey lived, he would have been able to 
 establish his claim to the invention of the 
 reaper beyond the shadow of a doubt. This 
 humble man, who, against tremendous odds 
 and powerful opposition, proved his conten- 
 tions before Congress and the United States 
 3
 
 Patent Office could certainly have won de- 
 served fame with the public. 
 
 His tragic death, which came just at the 
 time when his Congressional victory was cer- 
 tain and the future of his reaper seemed 
 bright with promise, occurred while he was 
 en route from Boston to Portland, Maine, on 
 August 4, 1860. In those days there was often 
 no water in the cars. The train had stopped at 
 a station when a little child asked for a drink 
 of water and Mr. Hussey stepped out to get it 
 for her. On his return, as he attempted to re- 
 enter, the cars started; he was thrown be- 
 neath the wheels and instantly killed. The 
 last act of his life was one of kindness and com- 
 passion. 
 
 Obed Hussey is dead, but his machine still 
 lives, an article of measureless value to the 
 great world of agriculture. His life was one 
 of long suffering and faithful service and he 
 justly deserves the proper credit and honor for 
 his great invention. To Obed Hussey belongs 
 the fame of Inventor of the Reaper as these 
 pages will show, to which purpose these facts 
 are published by those who knew him and his 
 works, and these facts, like his works, stand 
 squarely on their own merits. 
 
 FOLLETT L. GREENO. 
 
 Rochester, N. Y., April 21, 1912. 
 4
 
 Obed Hussey 
 Inventor of the Reaper
 
 OBED HUSSEY, THE INVENTOR 
 OF THE REAPER 
 
 Obed Hussey was of Quaker stock, born in 
 Maine in 1792 and early removed to Nan- 
 tucket, Mass. When young, like all Nantucket 
 boys, he had a desire to go to sea, and made 
 one or two whaling voyages. He was of quiet 
 and retiring disposition, studious, thoughtful, 
 with a strong bent for studying intricate me- 
 chanical contrivances. Little is known of his 
 early life and there is none living who knew A 
 him at that time. He was a skillful draftsman IQV U a 
 and incessant worker at different inventions 
 all his life. He invented a successful steam 
 plow, for which he obtained a medal in the 
 West. He also invented a machine for grind- 
 ing out hooks and eyes, a mill for grinding 
 corn and cobs, a husking machine run by 
 horse power, the "iron finger bar," a machine 
 for crushing sugar cane, a machine for making 
 artificial ice, and other devices of more or less 
 note. 
 
 His chief characteristic seems to have been 
 an extremely sensitive, modest and unassum- 
 ing personality. It was this reticence which 
 has served to keep him in the background as 
 the inventor of the reaper. He was unwilling 
 to push himself forward, and his claim to dis- 
 
 5
 
 tinction has had to rest solely upon the merits 
 of his greatest invention. 
 
 Mr. Hussey first began work on his reaper 
 in a room at the factory of Richard B. Cheno- 
 weth, a manufacturer of agricultural imple- 
 ments, and the story of those early efforts is 
 told by Sarah A. Chenoweth, a granddaughter 
 of the latter: 
 
 Early "As a child, it seemed that I had always 
 Efforts known Mr. Hussey. I saw him every day of my 
 life, for he lived in a room, the use of which my 
 grandfather, Richard B. Chenoweth, a manu- 
 facturer of agricultural implements in Balti- 
 more City, had given him at his factory. No 
 grown person was allowed to enter, for in this 
 room he spent most of his time making pat- 
 terns for the perfecting of his reaper. I, un- 
 forbidden, was his constant visitor, and asked 
 him numberless questions, one of which, I re- 
 member, was why he washed and dried his 
 dishes with shavings. His reply was charac- 
 teristic of himself, 'Shavings are clean.' 
 
 "At this time I was about seven years of 
 age, having been born in 1824. Although very 
 poor at the time, he was a man of education, 
 upright and honorable, and so very gentle in 
 both speech and manner that I never knew fear 
 or awe of him. I do not know for a certainty 
 how long he remained there, several years, 
 at the least, I think, but of his connection with 
 
 6
 
 the reaper, I am positive, for it was talked of 
 morning, noon and night. To this day, my 
 brother bears on his finger a scar, made by re- 
 ceiving a cut from one of the teeth of the ma- 
 chine. When, finally, the model was com- First 
 pleted, it was brought out into the yard of the Trial 
 factory for trial. This trial was made on a 
 board, drilled with holes, and stuck full of rye 
 straws. I helped to put those very straws in 
 place. Mr. Hussey, with repressed excitement, 
 stood watching, and when he saw the perfect 
 success of his invention, he hastened to his 
 room too moved and agitated to speak. This 
 scene is vividly impressed on my mind, as is 
 also a remark made by a workman, that Mr. 
 Hussey did not wish us to see the tears in his 
 eyes." 
 
 The story of Mr. Hussey's efforts at that 
 time is also told by a brother of the little grand- 
 daughter : 
 
 "Chicago, Nov. 25, 1893. 
 "Clark Lane, Esq., 
 
 "Elkhart, Ind. 
 
 "My Dear Sir: 
 
 "I notice in this morning's 'Inter Ocean' your 
 letter of 22nd in regard to the First Reaper and 
 Obed Hussey ; now I can say that the name of 
 Obed Hussey called to my mind the best friend 
 of my boyhood days, as he was in the habit 
 
 7
 
 of keeping me supplied with pennies when I 
 was short, and taught me how to put iron on 
 a wood sled, and helped me to make my first 
 wagon as he turned the wheel for me. You are 
 right with regard to the date of the fingers and 
 shaped cutters for Reapers, as I saw and 
 handled it, to my sorrow in 1833 or '34 before 
 the machine was finished and nearly cut my 
 fingers off. I have the whole thing photo- 
 graphed in my mind and can show the spot 
 or within 10 feet of it where I lay on the floor. 
 It was not possible to try it in Maryland, owing 
 to the hilly nature of the ground, and was after- 
 wards taken to Ohio for trial and was rebuilt 
 there, or at least a part of it, but of that part 
 (the rebuilding) I do not know for a certainty, 
 but the bars, fingers and knives I do most posi- 
 tively remember, as I was a lad of some eight 
 or nine years old with a mechanical turn of 
 mind and was looking into what seemed 
 strange to me, hence I cut my finger so bad 
 that I carried the scar for a number of years. 
 I very distinctly remember the incomplete 
 reaper made by my old friend, Obed Hussey, 
 as it was made in my grandfather's shop in 
 Baltimore, Maryland, who was at that time 
 the leading plow-maker of the U. S. and that 
 it was made either in 1833 or '34, as I would 
 not have had a chance to see it if later than '34 
 as I was not at home until '38, when it had been 
 
 8
 
 sent, as I was told, to Ohio for trial and some 
 parts had to be rebuilt. 
 
 "Please excuse the liberty I have taken in 
 writing to you, but I could not resist the temp- 
 tation to give my tribute to my old friend, O. 
 Hussey. Very respect f u ii y you rs, 
 
 (Signed) "W. H. CHENOWETH." 
 
 The machine referred to was, no doubt, the 
 reaper completed and tested near Cincinnati 
 in the harvest of 1833. 
 
 It is not known when Mr. Hussey left the The First 
 Chenoweth factory, but during the winter of Rea P r 
 1832-33 he was at Cincinnati working upon the 
 reaper that, more than else, won him lasting 
 fame during the harvest of 1833. The "Me- 
 chanics Magazine" for April, 1834, contains an 
 illustration of " Hussey 's Grain Cutter." The 
 picture does not represent the model deposited 
 in the Patent Office with his application, for it 
 differs in many essentials from the drawing of 
 the patent, which, of course, corresponded with 
 the model there filed. It has neither divider 
 nor outer wheel, and the construction of the 
 platform differs from that of his regular ma- 
 chine. It is thought that the picture represents 
 the small working model made at the Cheno- 
 weth factory, mentioned by the little girl. 
 
 Mr. Hussey found one who took an interest 
 in his invention and became so confident of its
 
 Financing value that he provided the necessary funds and 
 the First mechanical facilities for manufacturing a 
 eaper reaper to be tested in the field. This was Jar- 
 vis Reynolds, of Cincinnati. Drawings were 
 made of the cutting apparatus and a descrip- 
 tion of it was sent by the inventor to a friend, 
 Edwin G. Pratt, early in 1833. 
 
 Another personal friend of Obed Hussey 
 was Edward Stabler, who lived at Sandy Hill, 
 Maryland, and was, as he termed himself, "a 
 farmer and a mechanic." That he was a me- 
 chanic of ability is evidenced by government 
 seals which were cut by him, that for the 
 Smithsonian Institute being worthy of men- 
 The tion as an example of his skill. He was a post- 
 Reaper master from President Jackson's time until his 
 
 Historian Qwn <jeath. He is the only one who may be 
 said to have acted as Hussey's historian, and 
 has left very much valuable information in the 
 form of letters, legal papers, et cetera. In 1854 
 and '55 he published "A Brief Narrative of the 
 Invention of Reaping Machines," "Hussey's 
 Reaping Machine in England," and "A Review 
 of the Pamphlet of W. N. P. Fitzgerald in Op- 
 position to the Extension of the Patent of 
 Obed Hussey ; and also of the Defense, of Evi- 
 dence in Favor of Said Extention," etc. There 
 is sufficient data obtainable from Mr. Stabler's 
 various publications and material in the Con- 
 gressional Library to enable one to judge for 
 10
 
 himself whether the honors placed upon this 
 inventor by the Patent Office, the Courts, by 
 Congress, and by the farmer were earned. 
 
 It was at the time Mr. Hussey was residing 
 in Baltimore that he turned his attention to the 
 idea of a reaping machine and spent his leisure 
 hours in working out his model. This satisfied 
 him that the thing was practical, and he under- 
 took an operating machine, which, although 
 lightly made, was fully sufficient to test the 
 great principle. At this time he had no knowl- 
 edge whether any others had undertaken any- 
 thing in this direction and there was nothing 
 in his own mechanical occupation which would 
 make him familiar wth the subject. 
 
 As the only other claimant for the honor of McCormick 
 inventing the reaper was Cyrus H. McCor- Claims 
 mick, reference is here made to a book entitled 
 "Memorial of Robert McCormick," the father 
 of Cyrus H. McCormick, Leander J. McCor- 
 mick and William S. McCormick, published by 
 the said Leander J. McCormick in 1885, pages 
 44 to the bottom of page 51, also pages 58 to 
 61 inclusive, from which I extract: 
 
 "Now, while we have no disposition to ques- 
 tion the merits of the so-called McCormick har- 
 vester and binder, which, without doubt, is a 
 good machine, though the judgment of for- 
 eigners as to its value is of no consequence, 
 we do assert that C. H. McCormick was not 
 11
 
 Denial by entitled to any of the honors showered upon 
 Members of fa m as j ts inventor. To be more explicit, he 
 
 McCormick . .. . .... , , . , . . 
 
 _ .j not only did not invent the said machine, nor 
 mechanically assist in the combinations of the 
 inventions of others which produced it, but he 
 never invented or produced any essential ele- 
 mentary part in any reaping or harvesting ma- 
 chine from the first to last. These assertions 
 are broad, but absolutely true. They stand 
 squarely upon the records and the history and 
 state of the art. C. H. McCormick, or any one 
 for him, cannot deny them with proofs, there- 
 fore he is not entitled to recognition as the man 
 who 'has done more to elevate agriculture than 
 any man the world has produced/ because of 
 his supposed inventions in this line ; but on the 
 contrary, that the development of Western ag- 
 riculture has elevated him, and that he has 
 more money, and received more honors, 'than 
 any man the world has produced,' by appro- 
 priating the brains of others, and the credit due 
 them as inventors, are propositions much more 
 
 defensible." 
 
 ****** 
 
 Their "But the man who is entitled to the most 
 Affirmation credit, as inventor and pioneer in this business, 
 
 iS bed HuSSeV ' Wh ' December 31st 1833 
 
 patented the machine (successfully operated in 
 previous harvest, well known and in use since 
 to this day), which combined all the main fea- 
 
 12
 
 tures except the reel, which was then an old 
 device of practical reapers down to the time, 
 at least, when 'harvesters,' so-called, came into 
 the field." 
 
 The following is also copies from "Memo- 
 rial of Robert McCormick," published by 
 Leander J. McCormick in 1885: 
 
 TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES 
 "REMONSTRANCE" 
 
 "Of the Citizens of New York against the re- 
 newal of Letters Patent granted to Cyrus H. 
 McCormick, June 21, 1834, for improvements 
 in the Reaping Machine. 
 
 "Among the early reaper inventors of this 
 country, Mr. Obed Hussey, now of Baltimore, 
 stood for many years deservedly the most 
 prominent, and he has doubtless by his genius 
 and indefatigable exertions (although in a 
 modest way) contributed more to the advance- 
 ment of this invention than any other man. He 
 first tested his machine in 1833, and took out a 
 patent for it the 31st of December of that year. 
 
 "He first constructed his machine with a The First 
 reel to gather the grain up to the cutters, and Machme 
 throw it upon the platform; but on trial, with 
 his cutter, he thought it unnecessary and only 
 an incumbrance, and, therefore, threw it aside 
 and has never used it since. The main frame- 
 is
 
 work containing the gearing was suspended on 
 two wheels about three feet four inches in 
 diameter. The platform was attached to the 
 rear of this frame, and extended out one side 
 of it say six feet. The team was attached to 
 the front end of the frame and traveled at the 
 side of the standing grain as in Randall's ma- 
 chine. The cutting apparatus was pretty much 
 the same as now used in Hussey's machine. 
 The knife is constructed of steel plates, riveted 
 to a flat bar of iron. These plates are three 
 inches broad at the end where they are riveted 
 to the bar, and four and a half inches long, pro- 
 jecting in front, and tapering nearly to a point, 
 forming what is described as a saw with very 
 coarse teeth, which are sharp on both edges. 
 This cutter is supported on what he terms 
 guards, which are attached to the front edge of 
 the platform or cutter-bar (as termed by Hus- 
 sey), one every three inches the whole width 
 of the machine, projecting horizontally in front 
 about six or eight inches. These guards have 
 long slots through them horizontally through 
 which the cutter vibrates, and thus form a 
 support for the grain whilst it is cut, and pro- 
 tect the cutter from liability to injury from 
 large stones and other obstructions. The cut- 
 ter is attached by means of a pitman rod to a 
 crank, which is put in motion by gearing con- 
 necting with one or both of the ground wheels 
 14
 
 as may be desired, according to circumstances, 
 which gives to the cutter as the machine ad- 
 vances, a quick vibrating motion; and each 
 point of the cutter vibrates from the centre of 
 one guard, through the space between, to the 
 centre of the next, thus cutting equally both 
 ways. As the machine advances, the grain is 
 readily cut, and the butts are carried along with 
 the machine which causes the tops to fall back 
 upon the platform without the aid of the reel. 
 The grain to be cut was separated from that 
 to be left standing by means of a point project- 
 ing in front of the cutter, in the form of a 
 wedge, bearing the grain both inwards and out- 
 wards, with a board set edgewise upon it, slop- 
 ing downwards, to a point in front. The grain 
 was raked from the machine by a man riding 
 upon it, in rear of the frame, at the side of the 
 cutter, nearly in range with the guards, with 
 his back towards the team, sometimes at the 
 side and sometimes behind the platform. Soon 
 after this date Mr. Hussey changed the con- 
 struction of his machine somewhat, used one 
 large ground wheel instead of two, placed the 
 platform alongside the frame, and placed his 
 raker on a seat by the side of the large ground 
 wheel, facing the team, and raked the grain off 
 in rear of the platform. 
 
 "This was for many years doubtless the The Most 
 most practical reaping machine known, and, Practical 
 
 15
 
 with the improvements that have been made 
 upon it, from time to time, it is now preferred 
 to any other in many wheat growing sections 
 of the country." 
 
 The fact and intensity of Mr. Hussey's 
 struggles may, in part, be gathered from his 
 letter to Edward Stabler, dated March 12, 
 1854: 
 
 "Baltimore, March 12, 1854. 
 
 "My Esteemed Friend, Edward Stabler : 
 
 "I think the work goes bravely on. I am 
 unable to express my estimation of thy disin- 
 terested efforts; I never before experienced 
 anything of the kind ; it seems entirely new to 
 me to have any one go out of their way so 
 much, to do so much for me. I am not so much 
 surprised at the progress thee makes consider- 
 ing the man, as I am that any man could be 
 found to do me such a service. I hope thee 
 will not get weary; I am sure thee will not. 
 I hope the Committee will not act so unjustly 
 as to turn their backs on all cases because there 
 is 'rascality' in some ; because there is rascality 
 in some cases, why should a just cause suffer? 
 The facts in my case can be easily proved. I 
 made no money during the existence of my 
 patent, or I might say I made less than I would 
 have made if I had held an under-clerk's posi- 
 tion in the Patent Office; I would have been 
 
 16
 
 better off at the end of the 14 years if I had 
 filled exactly such station as my foreman holds, 
 and got his pay, and would not have had half 
 the hard work, nor a hundredth part of the 
 heart-aching. I never experienced half the 
 fatigue in rowing after a whale in the Pacific 
 Ocean (which I have often done) as I experi- 
 enced year after year for eighteen years in the 
 harvest field, I might say twenty years, for I 
 worked as hard in England as I do at home, 
 for in the harvest, wherever I am there is no 
 rest for me. If I am guilty of no rascality why 
 should I not be compensated for toiling to in- 
 troduce an invention which I thought to be of 
 so much advantage to the World. I know I 
 was the first one who successfully accom- 
 plished the cutting of grain and grass by ma- 
 chinery. If others tried to do it before me it 
 was not doing it; being the first who ever did 
 it, why should I be obliged to suffer and toil Mr. 
 most, and get the least by it? No man knows Husse y' 8 
 how much I have suffered in body and mind 
 since 1833, on account of this thing, the first 
 year I operated it in Balto. Three years after 
 I cut the first crop, I could not go to meet- 
 ing for many weeks for want of a decent coat, 
 while for economy I made my own coffee and 
 eat, slept in my shop, until I had sold machines 
 enough to be able to do better; there was no 
 rascality in all that. My machines then cost 
 
 17
 
 me nearly all I got for them when counting 
 moderate wages for my own labour. The 
 Quaker who lent me the ninety dollars ten 
 years afterward would not then (ten years 
 before) trust me for iron, one who was not a 
 Quaker did. There is one thing not generally 
 understood; thou will remember the trial at 
 Lloyd's, thou remembers also that I received 
 the purse of 100 dollars; now what would the 
 world suppose I would do ? Why that I would 
 do like the flour holders, keep the price up! 
 But it is a fact and can be proved, that after it 
 was announced to me that the verdict was in 
 my favor I said to a gentleman now I will re- 
 duce my price 10 dollars, on each machine, and 
 I did it, from that hour and did not breathe 
 my intention until after that decision was an- 
 nounced to me! Where is the man who has 
 done the like under similar circumstances? 
 There is no 'rascality' in that. Now I do not 
 believe that there is a reaper in the country 
 (which is good for anything) at so low a price 
 as mine, and not one on which so little profit 
 is made. 
 
 "I will inclose a pamphlet which I suppose 
 thee has already seen it may be useful. 
 
 "Thy friend, 
 (Signed) "OBED HUSSEY." 
 
 18
 
 Mr. William N. Whitely, an early inventor 
 and manufacturer of harvesting machinery, 
 who was for many years the king of the reaper 
 business, and who fought the Hussey extension 
 "tooth and nail," on January 8, 1897, wrote to 
 the "Farm Implement News" upon the subject 
 of McCormick's portrait on the silver certifi- 
 cates, then about to be issued, in which he re- 
 fers also to Mr. Hussey, as follows : 
 
 "Editor 'Farm Implement News' : 
 
 "Having been informed that the bureau of tfae Pen o{ 
 engraving and printing was preparing new $10 a Hussey 
 silver certificates to be ornamented by the busts Opponent 
 of Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin, and 
 C. H. McCormick, 'inventor of the reaper,' I 
 write you to say that it would manifestly be un- 
 just to credit the invention of the reaper to any 
 one man. Mr. McCormick does deserve great 
 credit for his enterprise and business skill in 
 the many years he was engaged in manufactur- 
 ing harvesting machinery and we are pleased 
 to honor his memory; yet so much has been 
 done in bringing the reaper to its present state 
 of perfection by the many thousands of in- 
 ventors that our government would make a 
 mistake in singling out Mr. McCormick from 
 the many meritorious ones who have contrib- 
 uted so much to the reaper of the past and of 
 the present day. We well understand that no 
 
 19
 
 effort has been spared for many years past in 
 keeping C. H. McCormick before the American 
 people as the inventor of the reaper by his im- 
 mediate relatives and friends, and we have no 
 right to find fault with such a course upon their 
 part; but when the great government of the 
 United States of America proposes to certify 
 by the above mentioned course to the correct- 
 ness of the claims made for C. H. McCormick 
 as the inventor of the reaper, to the disparage- 
 ment of so many other worthy inventors and 
 co-workers upon the reaper, then those who 
 know better should raise their voices against 
 such an attempted recognition for any one 
 man, of whom the best that can be said is that 
 he was only one of the many. 
 
 "From 1831 to 1834, and for several years 
 thereafter, two persons, i. e., Obed Hussey and 
 C. H. McCormick, were striving to produce a 
 successful reaping machine for cutting grain 
 and grass, as were many others, before and 
 since. These two men were contemporaneous- 
 ly in the field, and no doubt they both labored 
 faithfully to accomplish the desired result. The 
 invention of Obed Hussey, the features of 
 which were embraced in his first machine in 
 1832 and 1833, included all the principles of a 
 practical reaper. It was a side draft or side 
 cut machine ; that is, the cutting apparatus ex- 
 tended out to one side, the animals drawing 
 
 20
 
 the machine moving along by the side of the 
 grain or grass to be cut. It had two driving 
 and supporting wheels, gearing extending rear- 
 ward with a crank and pitman therefrom to 
 reciprocate the cutters, which were scalloped 
 or projecting blades from a bar and vibrated 
 through slotted guard fingers which held the 
 stalks to be cut. The cutting apparatus was 
 hinged to the side of the frame of the machine 
 to enable it to follow the surface of the ground 
 over which the machine was passing. A plat- 
 form was supported by an outer and inner 
 wheel. The operator was seated upon the ma- 
 chine and raked the grain into sheaves from 
 the platform as it was cut. Over sixty years 
 have come and gone, yet all the essential fea- 
 tures of the first Hussey machine and all Hus- 
 sey machines made thereafter (which were 
 large numbers) employed substantially these 
 devices. The machine was successful the first 
 time it was completed, and ever after were the 
 Hussey machines successful in harvesting 
 grain and grass. The fundamental principles The Reaper 
 
 of all harvesting machinery of the world to-day s , 
 were furnished by Obed Hussey's invention Contribution 
 and patent of 1833; and while very many and 
 valuable improvements have been made there- 
 on for harvesting grain and grass, for which 
 credit should be given to the worthy inventors 
 
 21
 
 who followed after Hussey, yet we must not 
 ignore his valuable contribution, 'the reaper.' 
 
 "Cyrus H. McCormick's first patent was 
 dated in 1834. This was known as a push ma- 
 chine with a straight cutter, the operator walk- 
 ing by the side of the machine and raking the 
 grain from the platform. Other modifications 
 in after years were made on this machine by 
 Mr. McCormick; and it may be said that the 
 inventive genius of Obed Hussey and the busi- 
 ness tact and skill of C. H. McCormick pro- 
 duced and brought into practical use the first 
 successful reaping machine of this or any other 
 country. 
 
 "Whatever might have been embodied in 
 the first McCormick machine or in his experi- 
 ments or machines for the first fifteen years of 
 Whose his efforts, the reaper of the present day does 
 Machine not disclose any principles contained in these 
 Still Lives? early efforts of C H McCormick; but that 
 
 cannot be said of Hussey. A 11 reaping ma- 
 chines of the present day embody substantial- 
 ly all of the vital principles given by Obed 
 Hussey in 1833 and at different periods there- 
 after. The Patent Office, as well as other 
 sources of information, make good these state- 
 ments. 
 
 "Passing, however, from the early history 
 up to the present time, when the present mow- 
 ing machines and grain binding machines are
 
 seen in operation, and taking into account the 
 thousands of patents that have been issued to 
 American inventors for various features that 
 they have brought out, it would be but simple 
 justice that all be recognized as contributors to 
 the building up of such valuable and important 
 pieces of machinery; and I cannot but repeat 
 that it would be very unjust, unfair and un- 
 American to single out one person, and that 
 one Mr. McCormick, as a representative to be 
 used by the government printing bureau, when 
 it is so well known what he did and what he 
 did not do in the invention of the reaper. It 
 would be a false monument; it would only be 
 respected by persons who are ignorant of the 
 facts. 
 
 "If this should succeed, it would not be the 
 first time, as likely it will not be the last time, 
 in the history of mankind where those who did 
 the work were soon forgotten and those who 
 were more fortunate in being held up and 
 prominently kept before the public by their 
 friends or powerful allies received unjustly the 
 credit." 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing extracts Early 
 that Mr. Hussey's machines went early into the Ventures in 
 field in such quantities as he and other little Manufacture 
 manufacturers throughout the country, some 
 of whom ignored the exclusive rights granted 
 him, could put them out. They were simple, 
 
 23
 
 and a few castings were all that was necessary, 
 except lumber, which was plenty in the forests 
 of the East and in the groves of the West, to 
 enable a country wagon maker and blacksmith 
 to put machines into the field. Many of the 
 earlier inventors, who began the manufacture 
 of reapers of their own invention, followed that 
 course and castings were sometimes brought 
 from great distances. Mr. Hussey applied for 
 an extension of his 1833 patent, but, not know- 
 An ing the exact requirements, his application was 
 Unfortunate offered too late, sixty days before the expira- 
 Delay tion of the patent being the time allotted. 
 Knowing, we presume, but little about law, and 
 still less about "the rules and regulations of 
 the Patent Office" for all his time, and con- 
 stant labor with his own hands, were required 
 in the workshop to earn a bare support, but 
 being very desirous to obtain an extension of 
 his Patent before it should expire, and also 
 having some personal acquaintance with Com- 
 missioner Ellsworth, Hussey's first application 
 was made to him in 1845, a short time previous 
 to his going out of office ; certainly not less than 
 twelve months before the expiration. This is 
 proved by the annexed letter : 
 
 "Dear Sir:- ' <La Fayette ' Ia " ^ 3 > 1854 ' 
 
 "Your letter of some weeks since, referring 
 to a conversation I had with you while I was 
 
 24
 
 Commissioner of Patents, relative to the exten- 
 tion of your patent for a Reaper, would have 
 been answered earlier, but for absence and ex- 
 treme pressure of business. 
 
 "If my recollection will aid you, I most 
 cheerfully state, that before your patent ex- 
 pired, you consulted me as to the extension of 
 the same. I replied that it was better to post- 
 pone an application until near the time the 
 patent would run out, for the Office must esti- 
 mate the profits of the invention during the 
 whole term ; and you accordingly postponed it. 
 I regret you postponed it too long. The pub- 
 lication of thirty days before the patent ex- 
 pired, was a rule as published by myself. If 
 you have lost your opportunity for relief 
 through (the) Patent Office, you must of 
 course go to Congress. I have always regard- 
 ed your improvement as valuable, and that the 
 country is greatly indebted to your persevering 
 efforts, notwithstanding the obstacles pre- 
 sented. 
 
 "Yours respectfully, 
 "HENRY L. ELLSWORTH. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey, Balto., Md." 
 
 Hussey acted on this official advice, and did 
 "postpone an application until near the time 
 the patent would run out" literally so, for he 
 was not advised of even the "thirty days' rule." 
 
 9&
 
 Why Mr. When he again applied, and not "until near 
 
 Hussey's the time the patent would run out," Edmund 
 
 Application Burke was Commissioner of Patents. He states 
 
 in a letter to Senators Douglas and Shields, 
 
 under date March 4th, 1850, as follows: 
 
 "In relation to the patent of Hussey, if my 
 memory serves me, his patent expired some 
 time within the latter part of December, 1847. 
 During that month, and within some ten or 
 twelve days before the expiration of his patent, 
 he applied to me as Commissioner of Patents 
 for an extension. I informed him, that inasmuch 
 as the act of Congress prescribed the mode 
 in which patents should be extended ; required 
 a reasonable notice to be given to the public in 
 sundry newspapers, published in those parts 
 of the country most interested against such ex- 
 tension; and as the board had decided that 
 'reasonable' notice should be a publication of 
 the application for extension three weeks prior 
 to the day appointed for the hearing, there was 
 not time to give the required notice in his 
 case; and I advised Mr. Hussey not to make 
 his application, and thus lose the fee of $40 
 required in such cases, as he inevitably would, 
 without the least prospect of succeeding in his 
 application but to petition Congress for an 
 extension, which body had the power to grant 
 it."
 
 "Washington, 5th Sept., 1854. 
 "Obed Hussey, Esq., Baltimore: 
 
 "My Dear Sir: I have recently learned, 
 with surprise and indignation, that certain 
 speculating harpies who fill their coffers with 
 the products of other men's brains, and who, 
 in your case, seek to 'reap where they sow not' 
 are basely and unjustly endeavoring to pre- 
 vent a renewal of your patent for your 'Reap- 
 ing and Mowing Machine,' upon the ground 
 [among others] that you and your agents have 
 neglected to press your Claim properly before 
 Congress. 
 
 "I have been your Agent from the time the 
 claim was first presented to Congress, and 
 know that the Charge is entirely unfounded. 
 
 "The facts according to the best of my rec- 
 ollection and belief, are as follows: Your 
 Claim for a renewal was presented to Congress 
 at the very first Session, after you ascertained 
 that your application to the Commissioner 
 could not be acted upon under the rules of the 
 Patent Office. Every paper and proof neces- 
 sary to establish your right to a renewal of 
 your patent, under the existing laws, was pro- 
 cured, and promptly placed with your memo- 
 rial, before Congress. No further proof was 
 required by the Committee on Patents, in the 
 Senate, and your right to a renewal was fully 
 
 87
 
 An Able established by an able and unanswerable re- 
 and port of that Committee, accompanied by a bill 
 
 Unanswerable r , _,, . -,-,,-, . 
 
 R for a renewal. This report and bill were printed 
 by order of the Senate, and were noticed as a 
 part of the proceedings of Congress, by the 
 press throughout the United States, and every 
 body thus notified of your application. 
 
 "From that period to the present time, I do 
 not think there has been a single Congress at 
 which all proper efforts were not made to ob- 
 tain the action of that Body. Members were 
 not annoyed with indecent importunity; nor 
 were any powerful combinations of interested 
 individuals resorted to, to force your Claim 
 upon the consideration of Congress. This was 
 Mr.Hussey's not in accordance with your taste, or your 
 Methods means. I well remember, however, that you 
 frequently visited this City on that business; 
 and that at almost every session, you either 
 brought or sent to me, to be laid before Con- 
 gress, some new evidence of the triumph of 
 your great invention. These documents were 
 faithfully laid before that body, or sent to the 
 senators from Maryland for that purpose. On 
 one occasion, as your agent, I addressed a 
 somewhat extended communication to the Sen- 
 ators from Maryland, attempting to show the 
 vast importance of your invention to the Agri- 
 cultural interests of the United States, and the 
 strong claims you had to a renewal of your
 
 patent, and requested them as the Representa- 
 tives of your State in the Senate, to give their 
 attention and influence to accomplish that end. 
 
 "At a subsequent Session, this request was 
 repeated, to one or both of the Senators from 
 that State. 
 
 "I can also state with certainty that hardly 
 a Session of Congress has passed since your 
 memorial was first presented, at which promi- 
 nent and Scientific Agriculturalists, in different 
 parts of the Country, who were acquainted 
 with the merits of your invention, have not 
 used their influence with Members of Congress 
 to obtain a renewal of your patent. Any pre- 
 tense, therefore, that your Claim has not been 
 duly presented, notified to the public, and urged 
 with all proper care and diligence upon the at- 
 tention of Congress, I repeat is totally un- 
 founded. 
 
 "It will be a stain upon the justice of the 
 Country, if one whom truth and time must 
 rank among its greatest Benefactors, shall be 
 stricken down and permitted to die in indi- 
 gence by the interested and unworthy efforts 
 thus made to defeat you. 
 
 "You are at liberty to use this statement in 
 any manner you may desire. 
 
 "Very truly and respectfully, 
 "Your Ob't Ser'vt, 
 
 "CHA'S E. SHERMAN."
 
 Although not coming in the natural order 
 of events, I quote from an enclosure found in 
 a letter written to Hon. H. May, evidently a 
 member of Congress. Mr. Hussey having 
 failed to apply for an extension of his 1833 
 patent early enough, a bill was introduced in 
 Congress with an extension in view. In some 
 correspondence between Mr. Hussey and the 
 Hon. H. May an enclosure is found reading as 
 follows : 
 
 "During the examination of my case in the 
 Committee-room on the 21st inst. you asked 
 me a question, and accompanied it with a re- 
 mark to the effect 'Why could I not raise a 
 company in Baltimore with sufficient capital 
 and make as many machines as Howard & Co. 
 and compete with them on equal ground? The 
 Mr.Hussey's excitement of the occasion disqualified me for 
 Defense giving a full reply to your question and re- 
 marks. I was at the time so impressed with 
 the injustice and the great hardship of being 
 compelled to compete with the world for what 
 of right belonged to myself exclusively that I 
 had not the words to express my feelings. 
 Could any gentleman look back twenty-one 
 years and see me combating the prejudices of 
 the farmers, and exerting the most intense 
 labor of body and mind, and continuing to do 
 so from year to year, at the very door of pov- 
 
 30
 
 erty, and also look back on those New York 
 parties through the same period, accumulating 
 wealth by the usual course of business, and 
 perhaps watching my progress, and waiting 
 for the proper moment to step in with their 
 money power and grasp the lion's share of the 
 prize which justly belongs to myself. If they 
 could look back on the circumstances and com- 
 prehend the case in all its reality and truth I 
 should have no fear of a just decision by the 
 Committee in the House of Representatives. 
 The Government which can tolerate and up- 
 hold such a state of things would appear to me 
 to be a hard Government. 
 
 "The end and design of the Patent Laws 
 was to reward the inventor for a valuable in- 
 vention by giving him the exclusive right to 
 make and vend the article which he had in- 
 vented and fourteen years was deemed a suffi- 
 cient time in which to secure that reward. The 
 telegraph was perfect on its first trial. It re- 
 quired no improvement. On the contrary, half 
 the wire was dispensed with. The Govern- 
 ment was at the cost of trying the experiment 
 and has since heaped wealth on the inventor. 
 My fourteen years were required in perfecting 
 my invention without any return for time and 
 labor. (The finishing touch to his cutting ap- 
 
 31
 
 paratus is, no doubt here referred to, and shown 
 in his patent of 1847.) 
 
 "Public opinion on the subject of valuable 
 inventions is liberal until an obscure individual 
 appears in the community claiming the reward 
 for a valuable invention; the disposition then 
 seems to be to let him shrink into a corner. 
 The world has got the advantage of his labors 
 and has no further use for him; every unrea- 
 sonable man in the community will at once 
 claim an equal right with the inventor of the 
 device and one not content to urge their claims 
 Mr.Hussey's j.jy misrepresentation but must heap abuses on 
 
 Protest . 111- 
 
 the poor inventor who they have in a great 
 measure pushed out of their way. The idea 
 that a wise Government, of an enlightened 
 country, can not only look on and suffer such 
 injustice but will actually encourage it by dis- 
 regarding the prayers of the poor inventor is a 
 mystery to those who build their hopes on the 
 dogma that 'Truth is mighty and will prevail.' 
 I hope the Committee will not pass lightly over 
 my case but duly consider, as I believe they 
 will, to whom the advantages of this invention 
 belongs, whether to me or to the parties in 
 New York. My chief aim in addressing this 
 to you is to endeavor to draw a parallel be- 
 tween myself and the parties in New York, and 
 thereby secure your good opinion in my favor."
 
 Edward Stabler, on January 11, 1854, wrote 
 to Hon. Henry May as follows : 
 
 "As requested I have examined the peti- Farmer* 
 tions of the 450 farmers who advocate the ex- ** sm * 
 
 Hussey 
 
 tension of Hussey's patent and from a personal Reaper 
 acquaintance or by character with much larger 
 portion in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and 
 North Carolina, and on reliable information of 
 those from New York 234 in number I am 
 satisfied that they are wheat-growers to an 
 amount of not less than from four to 500,000 
 bushels annually. * * * They used Hus- 
 sey's reaper, and some of them three and four, 
 or more of these great labor-saving imple- 
 ments." 
 
 Mr. Edward Stabler writes to Henry May, 
 under date March 19, 1854: 
 
 "The most that I fear is that Hussey's in- 
 terests (which all appear willing to admit is a 
 meritorious case) may suffer in the contests 
 that I am satisfied will take place with regard 
 to Moore & Haskell's and McCormick's ex- 
 tensions. I should be greatly pleased, and have 
 stronger hopes if Hussey's case could be acted 
 on promptly and before that contest begins. 
 
 "On the ground of its having been so long 
 and so favorably reported on, by the Senate's 
 Committee in '48 six years next May, possi- 
 bly it could be called up at an earlier date, 
 the sooner the better, to avoid competition 
 
 33
 
 from interested parties, and which I certainly 
 anticipate if long delayed in either House of 
 Congress. Honestly believing the cause just 
 and right, for no fee, however large, could 
 tempt me to advocate what I thought unjust 
 or wrong, I shall persevere as long as there is 
 ground for hope. If we fail I shall have pleas- 
 ing reflections, doing unto others as you would 
 that they under similar circumstances should 
 do unto you." 
 
 Mr. Edward Stabler, on February 5, 1854, 
 wrote to J. A. Pierce, member of one of the 
 Committees, a letter from which the following 
 is extracted: 
 
 Mr.Hussey's "I will, however, preface my remarks by 
 Character saym g t h at I have no connection whatever with 
 
 and Service .... . . . , 
 
 his business operations nor pecuniary interest 
 in his affairs, but being well acquainted with 
 him I am free to say, that I have known no 
 man on whose word I have placed more im- 
 plicit reliance, no one more honestly entitled 
 to what he asks for. 
 
 "He has faithfully devoted the prime of 
 his life, and no small portion of it either, in 
 the invention and the perfecting of the reaping 
 and mowing machine; and his untiring perse- 
 verance has certainly been crowned with suc- 
 cess so far as to confer a signal and lasting 
 benefit on his country; but unfortunately he 
 34
 
 has derived no corresponding advantage for 
 himself, and from no fault on his part. 
 
 "While C. H. McCormick has literally fat- Opinion of 
 
 tened on the agricultural public by the sale of * " e . 
 
 , . Mechanic 
 
 his inferior and cheaply made machines for 
 such I do consider them, both from my own 
 observations and the report to me by those 
 who have been induced to purchase them 
 Hussey has been pirated on from all quarters, 
 and others reaping the reward of his labors. 
 And I perceive by the papers on file, and ac- 
 companying the printed report (No. 16) 
 that this same C. H. McCormick has actually 
 petitioned against the renewal of Hussey's pat- 
 ent. It is really a very hard case, that a poor 
 man and one of the most deserving in the com- 
 munity in every sense of the term, should thus 
 fail of a just reward when he has done so much 
 for the benefit of others. * * * Believing 
 as I do that the extension is no more than 
 sheer justice to Obed Hussey, quite equal in 
 merit to any that has been granted, as one of 
 the most meritorious in the language of the 
 Committee, I do most earnestly solicit thy kind 
 aid and influence to get it through the Senate. 
 * * * He was then (and still is) a compar- 
 atively poor man ; without the means from his 
 limited sales to extend his business in a profit- Mr - 
 able manner or to protect his known and ac- S tablers 
 
 Testimony 
 
 knowledged rights from the depredations of 
 
 35
 
 others. His shops and I speak from personal 
 knowledge are for the most part dilapidated 
 sheds too confined and cramped up to do any 
 part of his work to the best advantage, and 
 from a personal knowledge speaking as a prac- 
 tical machinist of some 25 years experience, I 
 do know that his profits are far less than some 
 other machine makers not the half of what is 
 usually supposed. 
 
 "Take, for example, the machines as usually 
 made by Obed Hussey and C. H. McCormick 
 for I am familiar with both ; owing to the qual- 
 ity of the work, costs of material and arrange- 
 ment of the mechanism, two of McCormick's 
 The Two can j.j e ma( j e by him for little or no more than 
 
 ConT ared t ^ 1C C St tO ** USSev * one * *" s - Such, tOO, IS 
 
 the statement on oath of competent men em- 
 ployed by both manufacturers. McCormick's 
 foreman and clerk have sworn (see petition 
 from New York against his extension) that his 
 machines are made for some $35 to $40 each. 
 Any man who will undertake to make and sell 
 Hussey machines as he makes them for much 
 less than double this sum, will soon beg his 
 bread if he depends on his profits to buy it, 
 unless he cheats his hands out of their part." 
 
 A postscript is added, which reads : 
 "I should have made no allusion to C. H. 
 McCormick or to his machines, had he not 
 
 36
 
 volunteered by petition to injure his rival in 
 my opinion a most worthy, reliable and de- 
 serving man and I would add that in my es- 
 timation the two machines differ just about as 
 widely as the two men." 
 
 We may assume that Mr. Hussey must 
 have begun on his large machine late in 1832, 
 or early in 1833, at latest. During the early 
 part of the harvest of 1833 he was in the field. 
 "The machine was started," Stabler tells us, 
 "but owing to some part giving way, or some 
 slight defect not apparent until then, it at first 
 failed to work satisfactorily. One burly fellow 
 present picked up a reaping cradle and, swing- 
 ing it with an air of great exultation, exclaimed, 
 This is the machine to cut the wheat !' " An- 
 other account charges the breakage to a frac- 
 tious team. 
 
 "After the jeers and merriment of the crowd Mr.Hussey's 
 had somewhat subsided, the inventor remedied Trium P h 
 the defect, and assisted by the laborers present 
 the horses having been removed pulled the 
 machine to the top of an adjacent hill; when, 
 alone, he drew the machine down the hill and 
 through the standing grain, when it cut every 
 head clean in its track. The same machine 
 was directly afterwards exhibited before the 
 Hamilton County Agricultural Society near 
 Carthage, on the 2nd day of July, 1833." 
 37
 
 The secretary of the Society wrote an ex- 
 ceedingly favorable report. The group of spec- 
 tators present at this trial drew up a testi- 
 monial that was very favorable indeed. On 
 July 2, 1833, then, we are warranted in saying, 
 the problem that had so long exercised the 
 minds of inventors was solved. 
 
 Fortunately Mr. Hussey was not as easily 
 discouraged as many. He, no doubt, felt cha- 
 grined that his machine had broken down, but 
 had the pluck then and there to make an effort 
 to close the hooting mouths, and fully suc- 
 ceeded. In 1834 other machines were put out. 
 We learn from the Genesee Farmer, dated 
 December 6, 1834, that Mr. Hussey, the in- 
 ventor of a machine for harvesting wheat, had 
 left in the village one of his machines for the 
 purpose of giving the farmers an opportunity 
 to test its value. During the harvest of 1834 
 it was operated in the presence of hundreds of 
 The Hussey farmers with most satisfactory results. We 
 
 next find Mr * Hussev at Palm yra, Mo - on J ul y 
 
 6, 1835, with two of his machines, at the farm 
 of his old friend, Edwin G. Pratt. The machine 
 "excited much attention, and its performance 
 was highly satisfactory." The results of the 
 trials were published in the "Missouri Cour- 
 rier" in August or September of 1835. The 
 machines were sold for $150 each. A Mr. 
 Muldrow bought another kind of machine, 
 
 38

 
 however, in which the cutting was done by a 
 "whirling wheel" and paid $500 for it. In 1836 
 Mr. Hussey was in Maryland, at the written 
 solicitation of the Board of Trustees of the 
 Maryland Agricultural Society. The fame of 
 his reaping machines in the state of New York, 
 and the far West, had spread, "though with 
 something like a snail's pace," as new things 
 did two-thirds of a century ago. The machine 
 was operated at Oxford, Talbot County, on the 
 1st of July, in the presence of the Board and 
 a considerable number of other gentlemen. Its 
 performance was perfect, as it cut every spear Public 
 of grain, collected it in bunches of the proper Tests 
 size for sheaves and laid it straight and even 
 for the binder. On the 12th of July a public 
 exhibition was made at Easton, under the direc- 
 tion of the Board; several hundred persons, 
 principally farmers, being present. This same 
 machine was sold to Mr. Tench Tilghman, for 
 whom it cut 180 acres of wheat, oats and barley 
 during that season. The report of the Board 
 of Trustees of the Maryland Agricultural So- 
 ciety stated that "three mules of medium size 
 worked in it constantly with as much ease as in 
 a drag harrow. They moved with equal facil- 
 ity in a walk or trot." In 1837 the machines 
 were sold in various parts of the country. One 
 at Hornewood, Md., one at West River, and 
 several others throughout the state. One of 
 
 39
 
 the machines sold in 1838 to the St. George's 
 and Appoquinomick Ag. Society cut several 
 hundred acres of grain, up to 1845, and was 
 then in good repair. In all this time the cost 
 for repairs was only l%c per acre. The popu- 
 larity of the machine became so pronounced 
 that other inventors were given courage, and 
 those who before had failed were prompted to 
 pick up their work where they had dropped it 
 or begin on newer lines. 
 
 In 1843 we find that Hussey's machine was 
 in a field-contest with one brought in by Cyrus 
 H. McCormick of Rockbridge County, Va. We 
 say brought in, because the claim that it was 
 in fact invented and made by Robert McCor- 
 mick seems to be quite well founded. (Memo- 
 rial of Robert McCormick.) The contest took 
 place on the farm of a Mr. Hutchinson, about 
 four miles above the city of Richmond. Mr. 
 Hussey had, for a number of years, been build- 
 ing two sizes of machines, and at the first day's 
 A Hnssey- trial was obliged to use a small one because 
 McCormick hj s on ly large machine within reach was else- 
 00 es where occupied. The majority of the self- 
 appointed committee of bystanders reported in 
 favor of McCormick's machine, but Mr. Roane, 
 one of them, who signed very reluctantly, later 
 bought a Hussey machine. A few days after, 
 at Tree Hill, Mr. Hussey was present with his 
 large machine. 
 
 40
 
 In the "American Farmer" was soon after 
 published a letter from Mr. Roane, dated Jan- 
 uary 23, 1844, to Mr. Hussey, in which, among 
 other things, he says: 
 
 "Averse as I am to having my name in 
 print on this, or any other occasion, I cannot 
 with propriety decline a response to your in- 
 quiry. I had never seen or formed an idea of a 
 reaping machine until I went to Hutchinson's. 
 I was surprised and delighted with the per- 
 formance of each of them, and fully resolved 
 to own one of them by the next harvest, but 
 their performance that day left me in a state 
 of doubt which I should select. The report 
 spoke in terms of high praise of each machine, 
 and I consented to its award, that on the whole 
 Mr. McCormick's was preferable, merely be- 
 cause being the cheapest, and requiring but two 
 horses, it would best suit the majority of our 
 farmers, who make small crops of wheat on 
 weak land, for I doubted its capacity in heavy 
 grain. After this report was made I heard 
 your complaint that you did not have a fair 
 trial, because being unable to bring into the 
 field your large improved reaper, which was up 
 the river, you were compelled to comply with 
 your engagement for the day, with a small and Mr. Roane's 
 inferior machine, drawn by an indifferent and Letter 
 untutored team. Mr. Hutchinson's wheat was 
 badly rusted, and therefore light. I had ready 
 
 41
 
 for the scythe a low ground field of heavy and 
 well matured grain; partly to expedite my 
 harvest work, and partly to renew the trial, 
 that I might solve my doubts as to the merits 
 of these machines, I succeeded in engaging 
 them to be at Tree Hill on a named day. They 
 both came agreeable to appointment, Mr. Mc- 
 Cormick bringing the machine he used at 
 Hutchinson's, and you bringing the one you 
 could not on that occasion bring down the 
 river. The day was fine, and both machines 
 did their best, and had a very fair trial. My 
 doubts were fully removed, and my mind con- 
 vinced that in the heavy wheat we raise on our 
 river low grounds, rich bottoms, etc. your ma- 
 chine is superior to Mr. McCormick's of which 
 I still think highly. I accordingly ordered one 
 of yours to be made for the approaching har- 
 vest. 
 
 "I wish you all possible success in cutting 
 hemp in the 'Great West.' It must be very de- 
 sirable to cut that valuable plant instead of 
 pulling it up by the roots, and I cannot doubt 
 that your reaper has ample power for the pur- 
 pose." (Records of U. S. Patent Office.) 
 
 Mr. Hussey No one will claim that Mr. Hussey was 
 
 Not a what may be termed a good business man ; 
 
 Business jj^ e most inventors, his mind was on what he 
 
 sought to accomplish rather than on the hoard- 
 42
 
 ing of weath. I have already quoted from cor- 
 respondence that passed between him and his 
 friends, when attempting to get his 1833 patent 
 extended. 
 
 An early manufacturer, well known to Mr. 
 Hussey and who paid royalties under Mr. Hus- 
 sey's patents, writes : 
 
 "Mr. Hussey's early machines were made 
 by Jarvis Reynolds of Cincinnati, Ohio," we 
 are informed by Mr. William N. Whitely, who 
 early became familiar with many of the facts, 
 he having opposed Hussey's extension applica- 
 tion, "in a shop on the river front, beginning in 
 1831 or '32. After making that operated in 
 1833 he built several others during two or three 
 years or more. Some of the early ones were 
 taken to Glendale, Ohio, to the farm of Alger- 
 non Foster." 
 
 "The first machine taken there had a reel on 
 it, but after using it a short time the reel was 
 laid aside. On the same machine was an extra 
 platform, attached to the rear, so that the raker 
 could deliver the grain to one side. The ma- 
 chines were intended for both reaping and 
 mowing." Mr. Whitely states that he saw two 
 of the machines still on Mr. Foster's farm in 
 1860, that had been there since, probably, 1835. 
 
 "The machines were at first bought by 
 farmers who did cutting for the neighbors and 
 under the circumstances were anxious to pros- 
 
 43
 
 trate as many acres of grain per day as possi- 
 ble; in order to accomplish this, they applied 
 four horses and moved on a 'jog trot.' So mov- 
 ing the reel was found of little service because 
 the rapidly moving machine caused the sev- 
 ered straws to fall backward on the platform so 
 that the raker had little to do but to remove it, 
 except where it was particularly badly lodged ; 
 in such cases he manipulated his rake as it is 
 now used on all reelless reaping machines." 
 
 After building the machines for Algernon 
 Foster, Mr. Hussey undertook the manufac- 
 ture of two or more machines for the harvest 
 of 1835. From a letter received from John 
 Lane, we quote: 
 
 " 'Old Judge Foster' was a well known jur- 
 ist and judge of court in Hamilton County, 
 Ohio, having his country home (a farm) 3J4 
 miles near due east from my father's place of 
 business, and it was he who introduced Obed 
 Hussey to John Lane as being a mechanic who 
 could and would make for him the reaper he 
 A Contract was at that time seeking to have made in Cin- 
 cinnati. Also it was agreed between said Hus- 
 sey and Foster that when said reaper had been 
 made and tested to their satisfaction in the 
 standing grains, his sons, Algernon and brother 
 (whose name I do not remember) would pay 
 
 44
 
 all costs of making said reaper and put the 
 same in use to best of their ability." 
 
 I quote from the book entitled "Valley of 
 the Upper Wabash, Indiana," published by 
 Henry Ellsworth in 1838 : 
 
 "Another material reduction of the expense 
 attending the cultivation of hay and other 
 crops will be found in the use of some of the 
 mowing and reaping machines recently in- 
 vented. 
 
 "A machine of this description, invented by Editorial 
 Mr. Obed Hussey, of Cambridge, Maryland, Comment 
 has of late excited general admiration, from the 
 neatness and rapidity of its execution, and the 
 great amount of labor which its use will save. 
 Its introduction on large farms, of the descrip- 
 tion we have mentioned, will undoubtedly be 
 followed by remarkable results. These ma- 
 chines, when in good order (and they seldom 
 need repair), can cut from twelve to fifteen 
 acres of grass, and from fifteen to twenty acres 
 of wheat, daily. 
 
 "The following letter from John Stone- 
 braker, Esq., of Hagerstown, Maryland, will 
 exhibit his experience in the use of this ma- 
 chine. 
 
 "He was induced (as the writer knows from 
 personal communication with him on the sub- 
 ject) to try it from the representations of 
 
 45
 
 others, and with many misgivings as to the re- 
 sult. That trial, however, has satisfied him and 
 with him, many of his neighbors, of the great 
 utility of the machine. 
 
 "The letter is as follows : 
 
 " 'Hagerstown, August 15, 1837. 
 
 "'Dear Sir: Will you please give this a 
 place in your paper, for the benefit of wheat 
 growers. As the subject is of public interest, 
 it is hoped that other papers will circulate it 
 through the grain growing districts of the 
 country. 
 
 " 'I procured a reaping machine this sum- 
 mer of Mr. Hussey, the inventor, which I have 
 used through my wheat harvest. It was in con- 
 stant use every day, and performed its work to 
 my satisfaction, and far better than I had any 
 expectation of when I first engaged it of Mr. 
 Hussey. When the ground is clear of rocks, 
 A Hussey loose stones, stumps, etc., and the grain stands 
 Testimonial we ll, it cuts it perfectly clear, taking every 
 head ; and, if well managed, scatters none, but 
 leaves it in neat heaps ready for binding. 
 When the grain is flat down, the machine will 
 of course pass over it; but if it be leaning, or 
 tangled only, it is cut nearly as well as if stand- 
 ing, excepting when it leans from the machine, 
 and then if the horses are put in a trot it will 
 be very well cut. But in cutting such grain 
 
 46
 
 much depends on the expertness of the hand 
 who pushes off the grain, in making clean work 
 and good sheaves. I found the machine capa- 
 ble of going through anything growing on my 
 wheat land, such as weeds and grass, no mat- 
 ter how thick. 
 
 " 'After my harvest was over, I cut my seed 
 timothy with the same neatness and ease that 
 I did my grain. As respects the durability of 
 the machine, I can say this much for my ma- 
 chine, that not the least thing has given out 
 yet; it appears as strong as a cart, and but 
 little liable to get out of order, if well used. I 
 was advised by Mr. Hussey of the necessity of 
 keeping some of the parts well greased ; this I 
 have punctually attended to, and no perceptible 
 wear yet appears, beyond the ordinary wear of 
 any other machinery. 
 
 " 'It is immaterial to the machine whether 
 the speed be a walk, or trot; although a walk 
 will make the most perfect work. My speed 
 was a common walk, but a trot is sometimes 
 necessary to counteract the effect of a strong 
 wind when blowing from behind, in order to 
 incline the grain backwards, on to the platform, 
 to make good bundles. A quick walk is re- 
 quired to make good work in very short and 
 scattering grain. The machine performs well, Durablll *y 
 up or down hill, provided the surface be not ^ ine 
 too broken. By its compactness and ease of 
 
 47
 
 management, rocks, and stumps too high to be 
 cut over, can be easily avoided. Although a 
 rough surface is very objectionable, yet I have 
 cut over very rocky ground with no material 
 difficulty. I can say one thing which to some 
 may appear incredible, but it is not the less 
 true; the cutters of my machine have not been 
 sharpened since I have had it; nor have I yet 
 seen any appearance of a need of it in the qual- 
 ity of its wor*c. How many harvests a machine 
 would cut without sharpening is hard to say. 
 I propose sharpening mine once a year only. 
 I have used two horses at a time in the ma- 
 chine, and sometimes changed at noon; they 
 worked it with ease, the draught being light. 
 I took no account of what I cut in any one 
 day, with this exception: in less than half a 
 day I cut six acres, and was often detained for 
 want of the requisite number of binders, by 
 which much time was lost. My machine being 
 something narrower than those generally made 
 by Mr. Hussey, I could cut but about one acre 
 in going two miles; this, at the moderate gait 
 of two and a half miles per hour, would amount 
 to twelve and a half acres in ten hours ; and at 
 four miles per hour, a speed at which the work 
 is done in fine style, the amount would be 
 twenty acres in ten hours. I should judge my 
 quantity per day to range between ten and fif- 
 teen acres, yet I am decided in the opinion that 
 
 48
 
 I can cut twenty acres in a day, of good grain, 
 on good ground, by the usual diligence of 
 harvest hands, with a little increase of my 
 usual speed, and a change of horses. Two 
 hands are required to work the machine, a 
 man to push off the grain and a boy to drive, 
 besides a number of binders, proportioned to 
 the quantity cut. As the machine can be 
 drawn equally fast in heavy or light grain, the 
 number of binders is necessarily increased in 
 heavy grain, except an additional speed be 
 given in light grain. Under every circumstance, 
 the number of binders will vary from four to 
 ten; and, when the usual care is practiced by 
 the binders, there will be much less waste than 
 in any other method of cutting. 
 
 " 'I speak with more confidence of the 
 merits and capacity of Mr. Hussey's reaping 
 machine, from the circumstance of having 
 pushed the grain off myself for several days, 
 in order to make myself practically and thor- 
 oughly acquainted with it, before putting it 
 into the hands of my laboring men. The land 
 in this country being rather rocky and uneven, 
 it is hard to say what may be the ultimate ad- 
 vantage of these machines to our farmers ; but A Labor- 
 from what little experience I have had, I am Savin 6 
 resolved not to be without one or two of them. 
 I can therefore recommend the machine with 
 
 49
 
 confidence, especially to those who have a 
 large proportion of smooth ground in cultiva- 
 tion. It is undoubtedly a labor saving ma- 
 chine, and worthy of their attention. 
 
 'JOHN STONEBRAKER. 
 'Mr. Bell, Editor of the Torch Light.' 
 
 "To this testimonial from one of the best 
 and most practical farmers in Maryland could 
 be added many more, should they be needed. 
 Farther improvements on the part of the in- 
 ventor, during the past year, have much in- 
 creased the power of the machine; and its 
 adoption, as a valuable agricultural implement, 
 is becoming very general. 
 
 Other "One of these machines is now in the pos- 
 Testimonials session of the writer, which arrived too late for 
 use during the harvest of the present season. 
 From one or two trials, however, and those un- 
 der the disadvantageous circumstances of ar- 
 ranging a new machine, and the forced selec- 
 tion of a spot little suited for experiment, no 
 doubt remains of the result. 
 
 "We add a letter to the inventor from Colo- 
 nel Tilghmann, who also resides near Hagers- 
 town, Maryland. 
 
 "'September 15, 1837. 
 
 " 'Sir : Your wheat cutting machine was 
 used by me in securing my clover seed. With 
 one man, three boys, and two horses, we cut 
 
 50
 
 about twelve acres per day. The operation 
 was in every respect complete. The clover was 
 well cut, and deposited in proper sized heaps, 
 and no raking required, further than to remove 
 the heaps of cut clover from the track of the 
 machine. The whole operation was easily per- 
 formed by the hands and the horses. 
 
 " 'In the operation of cutting wheat, I fol- 
 lowed the machine for two hours in the field of 
 Mr. John Stonebraker, during the late wheat 
 harvest, and can vouch for the operation in 
 securing his wheat in the manner described in 
 his publication. The late improvements made 
 by you in your machine have added greatly to 
 the beauty and facility of its operation. 
 'Yours respectfully, 
 
 'F. TILGHMANN.' 
 'Mr. Hussey.' 
 
 "We add the following notice of this ma- 
 chine, from Messrs. S. and E. P. Le Compte, 
 enterprising farmers, of Cambridge, Mary- 
 land, as follows: 
 
 " 'Cambridge, July 3, 1838. 
 " 'We have employed Mr. Obed Hussey's 
 wheat cutting machine to cut for us about 
 thirty-four acres; the greater part of which 
 was very heavy. We were remarkably well 
 pleased with the performance of said machine, 
 and are of opinion that, with proper manage- 
 
 51
 
 ment and attention, it will cut twenty acres 
 per day, and save it much better than any 
 other mode of cutting we have ever tried. 
 
 " 'S. & E. P. LE COMPTE.' 
 
 "To which is appended the following post- 
 script : 
 
 " 'I have been a practical farmer forty 
 years; and am well satisfied, that, on a large 
 farm, this machine will save wheat enough, 
 beyond the scythe and hooks, to pay all the ex- 
 pense of cutting and binding. 
 
 "'SAMUEL LE COMPTE.'" 
 
 I next quoted again from the "Valley of the 
 Upper Wabash, Indiana:" 
 
 HUSSEY'S GRAIN CUTTER 
 
 "Report of the Board of Trustees of 'The 
 Maryland Agricultural Society,' for the East- 
 ern Shore, on the machine for harvesting small 
 grain, invented by Mr. Obed Hussey, of Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio. 
 
 Invitation of "The favorable accounts of the operation of 
 Agricultural this i mp i e ment in several of the Western 
 States, induced the board to invite Mr. Hussey 
 to bring it to Maryland, and submit it to their 
 inspection. It was accordingly exhibited in 
 Oxford, Talbot county, on the first of July, in 
 presence of the board, and a considerable num-
 
 her of other gentlemen. Its performance may 
 justly be denominated perfect, as it cuts every 
 spear of grain, collects it in bunches of the 
 proper size for sheaves, and lays it straight and 
 even for the binders. On the 12th of July a 
 public exhibition was made at Easton, under 
 the direction of the board; several hundred 
 persons, principally farmers, assembled to wit- 
 ness it, and expressed themselves highly satis- 
 fied with the result. At the Trappe, where it 
 was shown by the inventor on the following 
 Saturday, an equal degree of approbation was 
 evinced. It was afterwards used on the farm 
 of Mr. Tench Tilghman, where 180 acres of 
 wheat, oats, and barley were cut with it. 
 Three mules of medium size worked in it con- 
 stantly, with as much ease as in a drag har- 
 row. They moved with equal facility in a 
 walk or a trot. A concise description of this 
 simple implement will show that it is admir- 
 ably adapted to the important purpose for 
 which it was invented. Resting on two wheels, 
 which are permanently attached to the ma- 
 chine, and impart the motion to the whole, the 
 main body of the machine is drawn by the 
 horses along the outer edge of the standing 
 grain. As the horses travel outside of the 
 grain, it is neither knocked down or tangled in 
 the slightest degree. Behind the wheels is a 
 platform (supported by a roller or wheel), 
 
 53
 
 which projects beyond the side of the machine 
 five feet into the grain. On the front of the 
 edge projecting part of the platform is the cut- 
 ter. This is composed of twenty-one teeth, re- 
 Bow the sembling large lancet blades, which are placed 
 
 Reaper s i<j e by side, and firmly riveted to a rod of iron. 
 
 Worked ^ 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 di- 
 rectly 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 ac- 
 cumulate 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 
 
 54
 
 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 
 Ty?. 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 pass- 
 ing 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 thick- 
 ness of a man's little finger, have been fre- 
 quently cut without at all affecting its opera- 
 tion; 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 stub- 
 ble of several different heights. 
 
 "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 stub- 
 ble. The motion of the machinery being 
 checked, the main wheels slide on the ground; 
 the strain on every part being equal to the Mr- Hnsse y 
 power exerted by the horses. It can be man- ^?* 
 aged by any intelligent, careful negro. We 
 5
 
 deem it a simple, strong, and effective ma- 
 chine, and take much pleasure in awarding 
 unanimously the meritorious inventor of it a 
 handsome pair of silver cups. 
 
 "ROBERT H. GOLDSBOROUGH, 
 "SAMUEL STEVENS, 
 "SAMUEL T. KENNARD, 
 "ROBERT BANNING, 
 "SAMUEL HAMBLETON, Senr., 
 "NICHOLAS GOLDSBOROUGH, 
 "EDWARD N. HAMBLETON, 
 "JAMES LI. CHAMBERLAIN, 
 "MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH, 
 "HORATIO L. EDMONSON, 
 "TENCH TILGHMAN." 
 
 Mr. Lane goes on to say that one of the ma- 
 chines was taken to La Porte, Indiana, and 
 there put to work. Another was sent to Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 "The turning and fitting for these machines 
 was done at the mill of Henry Rogers, about 
 500 yards away from the little shop. In the 
 following copy of a recent affidavit sent us, 
 date not given, these last matters are suffi- 
 ciently substantiated." 
 
 Mr. Lane continues: 
 
 The True "Who invented the Reaper? The full, hon- 
 Inventor est answer is that Obed Hussey invented the 
 Reaper. 
 
 "Between April and July, 1835, John Lane 
 and Henry Rogers (with Isaac and Clark Lane 
 
 6
 
 assisting in the work) at their respective places 
 of business one mile north of Mt. Healthy, 
 Hamilton County, Ohio, made to order of Obed 
 Hussey one Reaping machine for S. F. and 
 Algernon Foster, then of the same County and 
 State. Said Reaper was made to conform to 
 or with drawings and patterns made and fur- 
 nished by the said Obed Hussey, who also su- 
 perintended the work of making the machine, 
 and witnessed its trial in the field near the mid- 
 dle of June, 1835, in presence of many farmers, 
 mechanics and others near by where the same 
 was made; and when and where it was deliv- 
 ered to the Messrs. Foster's, who took this 
 same reaper to La Porte County, Indiana, for 
 the reaping season of the same year. 
 
 "For the iron and steel work done as afore- 
 said books in my possession show that fifty- 
 three and 69/100 dollars was paid by Messrs. 
 Fosters, July 6th, 1835, to John Lane and by 
 him receipted for in full, etc., etc. 
 
 "The cutting device we then made for this 
 machine evidently was the invention of Obed 
 Hussey; and it was as near exactly the same 
 in all material parts to the cutting device now 
 universally in use, as the hand made sickle 
 could then or now be made. The sections of 
 sickle were forged steel blades V shaped, hav- 
 ing serrated or sickle cut edges, and riveted to 
 vibrating bar passing through slotted fingers, 
 
 67
 
 substantially riveted to the apron or table 
 upon which the cut grain fell in position to be 
 raked, or 'forked off.' 
 
 "This Obed Hussey machine cutting in a 
 good average stand of barley, June, 1835, was 
 light draught for two horses and left as clean 
 and as evenly cut stubble behind it as the best 
 of machines now do the same work. But one 
 fault, if any, with this first reaper was the lack 
 of one or more cogs in the driving wheel that 
 gave motion to the sickle, which required the 
 team to walk a bit too fast for teams of habit- 
 ual, or slow motion. 
 
 (Signed) "CLARK LANE." 
 
 Regarding one who became a competitor 
 of Hussey, much can be gathered from the U. 
 McCormick $. Patent Office. McCormick, who came com- 
 t!f I paratively late in the field, when applying for 
 an extension of his patents made many admis- 
 sions which were afterwards shown to dispute 
 that he had accomplished a successful ma- 
 chine before Mr. Hussey and others. He tells 
 us in his petition and brief to the Commis- 
 sioner of Patents that he had operated his ma- 
 chine in some late wheat in the harvest of 
 1831, but that, although he was sometimes 
 flattered, he was often discouraged ; that he did 
 not make sales or sell rights because not satis- 
 fied that the reaper would succeed well. He 
 
 58
 
 was not sufficiently satisfied of its being a 
 "useful" machine to patent the reaper; he tells 
 us that its construction and proportions were 
 imperfect and its cutting apparatus defective 
 on account of liability to choke. He admits 
 that the cutting "proved not sufficiently cer- 
 tain to be relied upon in all situations" until 
 "the improvement in the fingers and reversed 
 angle of the teeth of the sickle" shown in his 
 patent of 1845 were adopted. A farmer or- 
 dered a machine to be delivered in 1841, but 
 McCormick "did not then feel that it was safe 
 to warrant its performance." These facts are 
 found in the records of the United States Pat- 
 ent Office. Referring to Mr. Hussey, on whose McCormick's 
 patent, among others, McCormick's applica- Application 
 tion for an extension was rejected, who proved 
 to be a factor he must consider, he said: "I 
 did not interfere with him because I did not 
 find him very much in the way, calculated to 
 beat him without, and supposed it might be 
 best to do so." Mr. Hussey, no doubt, took 
 the charitable view and supposed Mr. McCor- 
 mick to have meant that his proofs would have 
 been sufficient to support him in his own 
 rights. Mr. Hussey, the Quaker, wrote the 
 Board to whom McCormick's application for 
 an extension had been referred, and from his 
 letter I quote: 
 
 59
 
 "In view of all these facts, I feel justified 
 in asking your Honorable Board a decision, 
 which, while it adjudges McCormick's machine 
 according to its merits, will not be prejudicial 
 to my interests, seeing that Mr. McCormick 
 makes no claims to the grand principle in my 
 machine, which makes it valuable, and so 
 much better than his, which principle I claim 
 as my invention. 
 
 Mr. Hussey's "I had no intention, neither had I any de- 
 Athtude s re ^ to pj ace an y obstacle in the way of the ex- 
 tension of McCormick's patent, but the course 
 he has taken, before your Board and before 
 Congress, has compelled me to act in self de- 
 fense, by which I have given your Honorable 
 Board much trouble, which I would have gladly 
 avoided." 
 
 Mr. McCormick also said to the Board : "If 
 my claim be made out as so far appears from 
 the evidence presented, it will be observed (as 
 I think) that nothing will be left of Mr. Hus- 
 sey's claim to which he is entitled, and all the 
 improvements he has added since his patent 
 have, I believe, been taken from mine." Ref- 
 erence is no doubt had to the effect that Hus- 
 sey, in some of his machines, used only a single 
 drive wheel and balanced his machine thereon. 
 He confessed that he never received profits 
 from his first patent until after twelve years of 
 study, and never should have realized anything 
 
 60
 
 from the invention but for later improvements, 
 and he continues as follows: "If then it shall 
 appear that I am the original inventor of all the 
 leading and important principles of the inven- 
 tion, is it wrong that I should ask for recipro- 
 cal benefits for myself, who alone have brought 
 them into being? Mr. Hussey's prior patent 
 stood in Mr. McCormick's way, but its inventor 
 raised no voice against the extension of Mc- 
 Cormick's rights unless his prior rights became 
 endangered. The honors due Mr. Hussey were 
 not lessened by the Commissioner of Patents 
 when treating of a competitive claimant to 
 have invented the reaper. 
 
 Mr. McCormick took out a third patent in Not 
 1847 covering inventions shown by the state- McCormick'* 
 ment of Leander and others to have been the nvenhons 
 invention of the father or some one else. An 
 application was made for the extension of this 
 patent. It then became necessary that the ap- 
 plicant show that he had not reaped the ben- 
 efits he believed himself entitled to through his 
 monopoly for the term of the patent. 
 
 The value of the second patent that of 1845, 
 may be gathered from the words of the Com- 
 missioner of Patents: "The invention of 1845, 
 considered in itself, and examined in presence 
 of the reaping machine as then in successful Br |n; ant nor 
 operation, both in Europe and America, can Extraordinary 
 
 61
 
 scarcely be regarded as brilliant or in any de- 
 gree extraordinary." 
 
 The Commissioner further said : 
 "It was a conviction of the inefficiency of 
 the machine that led the applicant to make his 
 invention of 1847, which, by a modification of 
 pre-existing elements, provided an advanta- 
 An Efficient geous location for the raker's seat. Upon this 
 Machine his fame as an inventor rests, and to this is his 
 reaper indebted for the triumphs it has 
 achieved. This seat had been previously known 
 in at least nine patented reapers ; but it had not 
 been well placed, and an appropriate location 
 for it was, up to 1847, an acknowledged desid- 
 eratum. Whatever, however, may have been 
 the value or the success of the reaper as im- 
 proved in 1847, such value or success can exert 
 no influence in determining the issue under dis- 
 cussion." 
 
 The Commissioner further said, referring to 
 the 1847 patent: 
 
 "Without the parts thus slowly accumulat- 
 ed and combined, and which have been so un- 
 hesitatingly appropriated by himself, his own 
 McCormick's invention would have been as valueless as 
 "Invention" wou j^ fo e a shingle to him who could find no 
 a ue ess jj OUse _ tO p on w jjj c h to nail it. The construc- 
 tion insisted on would compel the public to pay 
 again, and pay extravagantly, for that which 
 
 69
 
 is already its own, alike by purchase and by 
 long uninterrupted possession." 
 
 The authorities cited make it clear the Hus- 
 sey reaper was successful, from the start, but 
 the Patent Office did not seem to think that 
 the machine of his opponent for honors 
 was so. 
 
 The Commissioner in his decision refers to 
 the testimony of William S. McCormick, who, 
 at that time, was a partner of Cyrus McCor- 
 mick as a manufacturer and seller of the Mc- 
 Cormick reaper: 
 
 "As a farmer I used the reaper without a 
 seat, before a good one was invented, and am 
 perfectly certain that it was so nearly worth- A 
 less that a machine without one could not be Machine 
 sold at any price that would pay in competi- 
 tion with one having a raker's seat; this is my 
 experience from my intimate connection with 
 the business for many years." (Commission- 
 er's Decision, January 28, 1859.) 
 
 I further find : 
 
 "In the criticism which has been necessarily 
 made upon the invention of 1845, there has 
 been no design to detract from the acknowl- 
 edged value and usefulness of the machine, as 
 constructed under the patent of 1847. It has 
 had its brilliant successes in England and 
 France, but it has also had its marked discom- 
 
 63
 
 fitures when competing with other machines. 
 Though enjoying a great and perhaps a still 
 expanding popularity, it is by no means a uni- 
 versal favorite." 
 
 The last words of the Commissioner are: 
 "The application must therefore be rejected." 
 
 There were no questions raised as to the 
 invention of Mr. Hussey. 
 
 The statement that McCormick's success 
 was founded upon the inventions of others and 
 to no extent upon his own, as quoted from "Me- 
 morial of Robert McCormick," is in part ad- 
 mitted by Cyrus McCormick, who, in his affi- 
 davit when applying for the extension of his 
 1847 patent said: "He has, at the expense of 
 much thought, time, and money, added many 
 other important improvements to it since 1847, 
 which have contributed to the profits of his 
 manufacture." He then refers to other im- 
 ; McCormick provements, saying: Among such improve- 
 Had to^Pay for ments by ot h e rs as he has had to pay for, are 
 
 jHussey 
 
 Improvements ^ e mvent i ns f his brothers, of Obed Hussey, 
 
 of Jonathan Reed, of Henry Green, of Solymon 
 
 Bell and of Joseph Nesen. It is known that 
 
 Mr. Hussey ^ or nearly thirty years Obed Hussey manufac- 
 
 Did Not Need tured and sold reaping machines and mowers 
 
 the Improve- i n his limited way and, infringing no rights of 
 
 ments of o th ers> had no royalties to pay. To such an 
 
 Others . . 
 
 extent was his mind that of an inventor, that 
 he devoted thought to many side lines, the ex- 
 
 64
 
 pense of which taxed his abilities until, when 
 his patent of 1847 had but two years to run, 
 he sold it for $200,000.00. 
 
 COMMISSIONER'S DECISION 
 
 In the matter of this application of Eunice 
 B. Hussey, Administratrix of Obed Hussey, 
 deceased, for the extension of Reissued Letters 
 Patent No. 449 for an improvement in Reap- 
 ing Machines, dated the 14th day of April, 1857, 
 being a division and re-issue of original Letters 
 Patent No. 5227, dated the 7th day of August, 
 1847, for an improvement in Reaping machines. 
 
 Also, the application of the same party for 
 the extension of the Reissued Letters Patent 
 No. 451, for an improvement in Reaping Ma- 
 chines, dated the 14th day of April 1851, being 
 a division and Reissue of Original Letters Pat- 
 ent No. 5227, dated the 7th day of August, Applications of 
 1847, for an improvement in Reaping Ma- Mr. Hnssey's 
 chines. Widow for 
 
 Patent 
 
 Also, the application of the same party for Extension 
 the extension of Reissued Letters Patent No. all Granted 
 742, for an improvement in Reaping Machines, 
 dated the 21st day of June, 1859, being a divi- 
 sion of Reissued Letters Patent No. 450, dated 
 the 14th of April, 1857, being a division and 
 Reissue of original Letters Patent No. 5227, 
 
 65
 
 dated the 7th day of August, 1847, for an im- 
 provement in Reaping Machines. 
 
 Also the application of the same party for 
 the extension of Reissued Letters Patent No. 
 917, dated the 28th day of February, 1860, for 
 an improvement in Reaping Machines, being a 
 reissue of reissued Letters Patent No. 743, 
 dated June 21, 1859, the last named Patent 
 being a division and reissue of reissued Letters 
 Patent No. 450, dated the 14th day of April, 
 1857, which last mentioned patent was a divi- 
 sion and reissue of original Letters Patent No. 
 5227, dated the 7th of August, 1847, for an Im- 
 provement in Reaping Machines. 
 
 These four applications for the extension of 
 the said four patents, Nos. 449, 451, 742 and 
 917, having been made in due form on the 30th 
 day of November, 1860, and the Commissioner 
 of Patents having caused to be published in 
 due and legal form, notice of said applications 
 and of the time and place when and where the 
 same would be considered. And the applicant, 
 the administratrix and widow of the patentee, 
 having duly furnished and filed statements in 
 writing under oath of the ascertained value of 
 the said inventions and improvements claimed 
 in said patents, and of the receipts and expendi- 
 tures of the patentee and his legal representa- 
 tives sufficiently in detail to exhibit a true and 
 faithful account of loss and profit in any man- 
 
 66
 
 ner accruing to the patentee and his legal rep- 
 resentatives from and by reason of said inven- 
 tions and patents. And the testimony in these 
 four cases having been duly filed and consid- 
 ered and referred to the principal Examiner 
 having charge of the class of inventions to 
 which these belong, and the said Examiner 
 having made a full report upon the said cases, 
 and particularly that the inventions or im- 
 provements, secured by the said four patents, 
 were new and patentable when patented. And 
 the printed arguments in these cases having 
 been duly filed and considered, and the day of 
 hearing viz. the 28th day of Feb., 1861, arrived, 
 undersigned, the Acting Commissioner of Pat- 
 ents, sitting at the time and place designated 
 in the said published notice to hear and decide 
 upon the evidence produced before him both 
 for and against the extension, and having heard 
 all persons who appeared to show cause why 
 the extension should not be granted, does de- 
 cide as follows, viz.: 
 
 That the applications for extension in these 
 cases were made at a proper time, and not pre- 
 maturely as the opponents have contended. 
 The only ground alleged to support the allega- 
 tion that the applications were premature is 
 that the receipts for the year 1861 cannot be 
 fully ascertained at this time, but must be 
 estimated or guessed at. If this is a good rea- 
 
 67
 
 son for not considering the applications now 
 it would also be good on the 7th of August 
 Claim of when the patent expires, for the receipts would 
 Opponents not then be ascertained, but would still be the 
 Overruled su bj ec ^ o f estimate only. These receipts can be 
 as well determined by this mode now, as in 
 August. The objection on this point is not 
 therefore well taken, and must be overruled. 
 An application for extension cannot be regard- 
 ed as premature if made during the last year 
 of the term of the patent, and the total receipts 
 are known or can be estimated with reasonable 
 certainty. In addition to this there seems to 
 be no little force in the argument of Counsel 
 that the public convenience would be promoted 
 by an early decision upon these cases before 
 manufacturers enter upon their preparations 
 for another year's business. 
 
 Besides these considerations, which of 
 themselves are sufficient to determine the pro- 
 priety of hearing these cases at the present 
 time, the late Commissioner of Patents fixed 
 this time for these hearings with reference to 
 the public interests therein, and is an addi- 
 tional reason why it should be adhered to, yet 
 I should have no hesitation in postponing the 
 hearing if it were made to appear that the pub- 
 lic interest were likely in any way to be sub- 
 served by such postponement. 
 68
 
 The report of the Examiner leaves no doubt 
 in my mind as to the novelty of each of the 
 inventions which constitute the subject matter Value and 
 of the four patents for which the extensions are Importance 
 
 asked. His report is equally conclusive as to 
 
 ... , , . . , . , Inventions 
 
 the utility of the inventions, their value and Fully 
 importance to the public, and as to the pat- Established 
 entee's diligence in introducing them into pub- 
 lic use, and his efforts to derive remuneration 
 from their sale. 
 
 From a careful examination of all these 
 points myself, I have arrived at the same con- 
 clusion as the Examiner. 
 
 The Counsel, Wm. N. Whitely, the oppo- 
 nent of these extensions have urged with great 
 pertinacity that the inventions are not novel. 
 They allege that the same thing existed before 
 in Hiram Moore's "Big Harvester" in Michi- 
 gan the Ambler Machine in New York the 
 Nicholson Machine in Maryland and the 
 White and Hoyle Machines in Ohio. They 
 also contend that the invention claimed in Opponent* 
 Patent No. 451 especially, is of no utility or Contentions 
 value. On a careful review of all these points b p a L s V 
 with the light of the Argument of Counsel, I 
 am quite clear that the Examiners conclusion 
 as to the novelty and utility of Hussey's inven- 
 tion are sound. The Moore or "Big Harves- 
 ter" cutting apparatus, the testimony shows 
 was designated for the performance of a dif- 
 
 69
 
 ferent duty from Hussey's and could not with- 
 out essential changes of construction, amount- 
 ing to changes in its principle and mode of op- 
 eration, be used for the same purposes as that 
 of Hussey. 
 
 The Ambler machine had a straight edge 
 cutter vibrating on arms through barbed or 
 open slotted fingers. His Cutting apparatus 
 lacked an essential element found in Hussey's 
 the scalloped cutter, to say nothing of other 
 material differences. This machine has noth- 
 ing to impeach the novelty of Hussey's inven- 
 tions. The Nicholson Model has no vibrating 
 scalloped cutter which is one of the specific 
 elements of Hussey's combination. The White 
 machine as shown in the exhibit produced and 
 which the testimony shows has been recently 
 fabricated is not substantially the same com- 
 bination claimed in patent No. 742. It has not 
 like Hussey's a cutter with flush edges on both 
 sides of the angle of the forks on the same side 
 of the blade. The Hoyle Machine, according 
 to Hoyle's own deposition, is subsequent in 
 date to Hussey's invention. 
 
 It is contended by the opponents that the 
 patent No. 451 has no utility or value. I am 
 Utility of mc l me d to the opinion that the utility of the 
 Hussey's improvement specified in this patent is, of it- 
 Inventions self, small, compared with the improvements 
 covered by the other patents of Hussey now 
 
 70
 
 before me, which are all of very great utility, 
 and two of them indispensable in the present 
 state of the art. Still since the novelty of the 
 improvement claimed in No. 451, is admitted 
 and is proven by the testimony of Henry B. 
 Renwick to have some utility as one of this 
 series of patents, I think it has sufficient utility 
 to justify an extension. 
 
 The contestant's counsel have argued from 
 the testimony of Lovegrove, that Hussey aban- 
 doned his inventions to the public by having 
 them on sale more than two years before ap- 
 plying for a patent. The testimony does not 
 sustain this point. Besides, an inventor does 
 
 ... . , , ,. , Mr. Hussey 
 
 not abandon his invention to the public by Did Not 
 constructing a machine embracing it, in the Abandon 
 same factory where he makes and sells other His 
 machines. Nor by using it experimentally in 
 such a factory or elsewheres. Nor by keeping 
 it in such a factory from the autumn of one 
 year to the harvest of the next year. Nor by 
 doing all or any of these things more than two 
 years before his application for a patent. 
 
 The statement of receipts and expenditures 
 is unusually full and in detail, more so than 
 is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the 
 law. 
 
 There are two classes of expenditures and 
 two corresponding classes of receipts, viz.: 
 
 71
 
 1st. Expenditures and receipts on account 
 of the manufacture and sale of Reapers and 
 Mowing Machines embracing the patentee's 
 improvements. 
 
 2nd. Expenditures and receipts on account 
 of the sales of Patent rights and licenses, and 
 compromise of infringements. 
 
 The Patentee manufactured and sold about 
 2,000 machines, and a few other articles at a 
 
 cost of materials and labor $195,292.88 
 
 Shop and Tools 12,500.00 
 
 One-quarter of patentee's time 
 and expenses 9,008 . 22 
 
 $216,801.10 
 
 The receipts on account of the sale of these 
 manufactures were: 
 
 Cash for Reapers $216,607.90 
 
 Cash for parts of Reapers 22,416.58 
 
 Notes and Book Accounts 11,388.23 
 
 Cash for Corn Crushers 1,135 . 25 
 
 Discount and Interest 2,327.84 
 
 $253,875.80 
 
 The result of the manufacturing business is 
 an excess of receipts over expenditures of $37,- 
 074.70. This statement, however, allows noth- 
 ing for manufacturer's profits. An allowance 
 
 72
 
 for such profit ought to be made but in this 
 case the object is to eliminate from the gross 
 receipts such profits as have in any manner ac- 
 crued from or by reason of the inventions 
 claimed in the patents. Now receipts or profits 
 that result from business talents or skill in 
 manufacturing or in financeering are not re- 
 ceipts or profits in any manner accruing from 
 or by reason of an invention. In the case of 
 Seymour and Morgan vs. McCormick-How- 
 ards Reports Vol. 16 p. 480, the Supreme Court 
 of the United States held that the ruling of 
 Judge Nelson that the whole profits of the man- 
 ufacture of Reaping machines in which one 
 small part of the machines infringed a patent 
 was to be considered as accruing from the use 
 of the patented part was erroneous, and that a 
 reasonable manufacturer's profit for the use of 
 the Capital so, in addition to the actual cost of 
 the machine must first be deducted from the 
 gross receipts, and if then there was any ex- 
 cess, that might be assigned to patents. This 
 decision I should deem binding and conclusive 
 upon the subject even if I did not think that 
 the values of business capital and talent are as 
 fairly charges against the receipts of business 
 as the values of a business house or tools. 
 
 In this case there is only an excess of $37,- An 
 074.70 of the receipts over the expenditure or Inadequate 
 something less than 14 per cent upon the gross Profit 
 78
 
 amount of sales. This is a very inadequate 
 profit for manufacturing and selling, but it is 
 all there is, and it is all that I can allow. 
 
 If the excess of the receipts over the ex- 
 penditures had amounted to three times four- 
 teen per cent, I should have had no hesitation 
 in allowing the whole of it for manufacturer's 
 profit, and should not have deemed it more 
 than a reasonable allowance in view of the tes- 
 timony of Long, which shows that his firm 
 have made a profit of over fifty per cent after 
 paying patent fees, on their manufacture of 
 reapers. 
 
 It seems to be supposed from the reference 
 which has beeen made to Commissioner Holt's 
 decision in the case of McCormick's applica- 
 tion for the extension of his patent of 1845, 
 that he entertained views -at variance with 
 those I have expressed as to the justice of al- 
 lowing manufacturer's profits as a part of the 
 expenditure, and as an offset against the re- 
 ceipts, but a careful examination of that opinion 
 will show clearly that Mr. Holt was not will- 
 ing to allow a charge for the use of Capital, 
 and for wear and tear of machines (which are 
 the Constituent elements of a manufacturer's 
 claim to allow for profit) and then, again allow 
 a second or duplicate charge for the same 
 things under the name of manufacturer's 
 74
 
 profits. This is the extent to which Mr. Holt 
 goes, and I fully agree with him. 
 
 The expenditures on account of the patents 
 and the sale of rights and licenses under the 
 same are : 
 
 For three quarter of patentee's 
 
 labor and expense $27,024 . 68 
 
 For sundry legal and traveling 
 
 expenses 44,562 . 88 
 
 $71,587.56 
 
 The receipts on the same account are : 
 Cash for licenses, sale of rights, 
 
 etc $92,788.38 
 
 Notes and unsettled accounts 23,748 . 89 
 
 License fees estimated for 1861. . 10,000.00 
 
 $126,537.27 
 
 Showing that the receipts exceed the ex- 
 penditures by $54,949.71 or $13,737.42 for each 
 of the four patents. 
 
 This I can have no hesitation in pronoun- 
 cing to be a totally inadequate compensation 
 for inventions of such great value and import- 
 ance. 
 
 After a most laborious examination and 
 careful consideration of the whole matter, it 
 appears to my full and entire satisfaction, hav- 
 
 75
 
 ing due regard to the public interest therein, 
 that it is just and proper that the term of the 
 said reissued patents No. 449, No. 451, No. 
 742, and No. 917 should severally be extended 
 by reason of the patentee, without fault or 
 neglect on his part, having failed to obtain 
 from the use and sale of his said inventions a 
 reasonable remuneration for the time, ingenu- 
 ity and expense bestowed upon the same and 
 the introduction thereof into use. 
 
 Hussey's The list of licenses under these patents 
 Inventions show the acquiescence of the principal manu- 
 
 the Basis facturers in the justice of Hussey's claims. 
 of all Reaper Thg j.^ ghows that the manufacturers of Reap- 
 
 Manufact- 
 
 urers Profits ers ^ ave ma ^ e large profits, and that Hussey s 
 improvements are the foundation of their suc- 
 cess. It is certainly just and equitable that 
 Hussey's heirs should be allowed to participate 
 in the advantages of using his own inventions 
 to an extent more nearly commensurate with 
 the merits of those inventions. 
 
 The character of the opposition to these ap- 
 plications, in which but a single manufacturer 
 has entered an appearance is such, as greatly 
 strengthens this view, and I feel constrained 
 A Merited to re g ar( * ^is tacit assent, of the great body of 
 Tribute manufacturers to these applications for exten- 
 from the sion, an additional evidence of the soundness of 
 U. S. Patent mv own conclusions. As it is also a fitting and 
 
 f\f* 
 
 B merited tribute to Obed Hussey, now in his 
 
 76
 
 grave, for the invaluable contributions his 
 genius and industry have made to the improve- 
 ments of the age. 
 
 The said four patents, Nos, 449, 451, 742 and 
 917, are accordingly extended for the term of 
 seven years from the 7th day of August, 1861. 
 
 S. T. SHUGERT, 
 Acting Commissioner of Patents. 
 United States Patent Office, 
 Mar. 1, 1861. 
 
 A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE 
 INVENTION OF REAPING MACHINES 
 
 And an Examination of the Claims for Priority 
 of Invention 
 
 The object aimed at in this examination is 
 to ascertain as far as reliable evidence within 
 reach will establish the fact and before the 
 evidence may be lost to whom belongs the 
 credit of first rendering the Reaping and Mow- 
 ing Machine a practical and available imple- 
 ment to the American farmer; not who theo- 
 retically invented a machine for the purpose, 
 that may have worked an hour only, and very 
 imperfectly for that short period, and was then 
 laid aside; but who rendered it an operating 
 and efficient machine that was proved by suc- 
 cessive years in the harvest field, capable of 
 
 77
 
 doing its work, and doing it well; better than 
 either the scythe or cradle. 
 
 The object is not to detract from the merits 
 fairly claimed by any inventor; but it is to 
 examine into some of the rival claims, furnish 
 the evidence that has satisfied our own minds, 
 and leave it for others to judge for themselves. 
 We would not intentionally deprive an inventor 
 of his often dearly bought and hard-earned 
 fame the creation of his own genius for it is 
 more prized than even fine gold by many. But 
 it is equally just that merit should be acknowl- 
 edged, and the meed of praise awarded, where 
 it is honestly and fairly due ; and to this end we 
 propose and intend to examine into the evi- 
 dence closely and critically. It may also be 
 right to remark that we have no private or 
 pecuniary interest whatever, in these, or any 
 other patent claims. 
 
 As to the theoretical portion of the business, 
 the enquiry might be greatly extended ; indeed 
 for past centuries, as we have imperfect ac- 
 counts of Reaping Machines being used by the 
 Attempts Romans. If the ancients were successful in 
 of the ma king a practical implement for Reaping, by 
 horse, or ox power, as some ancient writers as- 
 sert, we certainly have no correct and reliable 
 account of a machine that would be consid- 
 ered efficient or useful at the present day; a 
 machine to save or tear off the heads only as 
 78
 
 described by Pliny and Palladius would more 
 properly be termed a gathering machine, and 
 not at all suited to the wants and habits of 
 modern farmers. 
 
 It was not until near the close of the past, 
 and within the present century, so far as we 
 can learn, that the subject again claimed much 
 attention of the inventive talent of either this, 
 or foreign countries. Of some half a dozen or 
 more attempts made in Great Britain, and re- 
 corded in Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agricul- 
 ture, the Edinburg Encyclopedia, and other 
 similar works, all, or nearly all, relief either 
 upon scythes or cutters, with a rotary motion, English 
 or vibrating shears. And although there was Endeavors 
 "go ahead" about them in one sense of the 
 term, as it was intended for the "cart to go be- 
 fore the horse," none of them appeared to have 
 gained, or certainly not long retained, the con- 
 fidence of the farmers ; for at the exhibition of 
 the "World's Fair in London," the whole King- 
 dom could not raise a Reaping Machine; a 
 practical implement which was considered 
 worth using and exhibiting. 
 
 That the idea was obsolete there, and had 
 been unsuccessful, is clearly proved by the fact 
 that the English journals and writers of that 
 period, without a single exception, spoke of 
 the American Reapers after the trials! as 
 "completely successful" "taking every one by 
 
 79
 
 surprise" "their reaping machines have aston- 
 ished our agriculturists" "few subjects have 
 created a greater sensation in the agricultural 
 world than the recent introduction into the 
 country of the reaping machines" the "curi- 
 osity of the crowd was irrepressible to witness 
 such a novelty, even to stopping the machine, 
 and trampling the grain under foot," etc., etc. 
 Much more and similar evidence is at hand; 
 but better need not be produced to prove the 
 entire failure of reaping machines in Great 
 Britain, as late as 1851. We would also refer 
 the curious to Rees' Cyclopedia, for a very 
 brief account of what had been effected; a 
 few paragraphs only are written on reaping 
 machines, but several pages are compiled as to 
 the use of the scythe, sickle or reap hook, and 
 reaping fork. The Doctor refers to Plunknett's 
 Machine by name, as being "somewhat on a 
 new principle, the horse drawing the machine 
 instead of pushing it forward as was the old 
 mode of applying the power." The machine is 
 fully represented in the Farmers' Dictionary; 
 and he winds up the account as follows: "But 
 the success with which they have been attend- 
 English e< ^ ^ as hi t ' ierto been far from complete ;" again, 
 Failure "Other machines of this kind have still more 
 lately been invented by other persons [mean- 
 ing of course his own countrymen] but without 
 answering the purpose in that full and com- 
 
 80
 
 plete manner which is necessary in this sort 
 of work." 
 
 The Doctor undertakes to tell us what is 
 wanted, but fails entirely to inform his readers 
 how to do it. That John Bull had not done it 
 is clearly established; but Brother Jonathan, 
 the "Live Yankee," as John calls his cousin, 
 has solved the problem; and the solution is so 
 simple, when you know how to do it ! that it is 
 marvelously strange no one for centuries had 
 before struck upon the right key. 
 
 Philip Pusey, Esq., M. P. and F. R. S. the 
 chief manager of the London Exhibition ad- 
 mits the failure, though apparently reluctantly; 
 but the source of his information, in writing 
 about the American machines, was interested 
 and defective ; and when he again writes on this 
 subject he will be better informed. He says: 
 "At the opening of this century it was thought 
 that a successful reaping machine had been 
 invented, and a reward had been voted by 
 Parliament to its author. The machine was 
 employed here and abroad, but from its intri- 
 cacy, fell into disuse. Another has been lately 
 devised in one of our Colonies, which cuts off 
 the heads of the corn, but leaves the straw 
 standing, a fatal defect in an old settled coun- 
 try, where the growth of corn is forced by the 
 application of dung. Our farmers may well, 
 therefore, have been astonished by an Amer- 
 
 81
 
 ican implement which not only reaped the 
 wheat, but performed the work with the neat- 
 ness and certainty of an old and perfect ma- 
 chine. Its novelty of action reminded one of 
 seeing the first engine run on the Liverpool 
 and Manchester railway in 1830. Its perfec- 
 tion depended on its being new only in Eng- 
 land; but in America the result of repeated 
 disappointments and untired perseverance, 
 etc." 
 
 We propose to prove, and by better evi- 
 dence, and disinterested too, than he then had, 
 that in 1833, near the date of "the first engine 
 run on the Liverpool and Manchester railway 
 in 1830," the American machine cut the "corn" 
 just as perfectly, with equal "neatness and cer- 
 tainty" as did the "Novelty" or "Rocket" pass 
 over the Liverpool and Manchester railway. 
 We shall again recur to English authority. 
 John Bull is a right honest and clever old gen- 
 tleman in the main; but he is rather prone to 
 claim what he has no title for inventions, as 
 well as territory. We are willing to give him 
 what he can show a clear deed for, but no more. 
 English ** e k eat us kv one year only in the Locomo- 
 Claims trve J but we fairly beat him eighteen or twenty 
 in the Reaping Machine; and yet some of his 
 writers contend to this day that we "pirated" 
 from Bell and other English inventors all we 
 know! 
 
 88
 
 The excitement and sensation thus pro- 
 duced by the American Reapers, caused re- 
 newed efforts on the part of English inventors ; 
 some who had near a quarter of a century pre- 
 viously, been endeavoring to effect this "great 
 desideratum," to use an English editorial; and 
 the most conspicuous of these was one invent- 
 ed by the Rev. Patrick Bell, of Scotland. Of 
 the half a score or more and previous inventors 
 in Great Britain Boyce, Plunknett, Gladstone 
 of Castle Douglass, Salmon of Waburn, Smith 
 of Deanston in Perthshire, etc., etc. none were 
 waked up from their Rip Van Winkle slum- 
 bers ; or if they were, the world is not advised 
 of it. They all used revolving scythes, revolv- English 
 ing cutters, or shears instead. Several trials Inventors 
 were made with Bell's in 1828 or 1829 ; and a an . d Their 
 very full and minute description with plates, 
 was published some 24 or 25 years ago, and 
 may be found in London's Encyclopedia of Ag- 
 riculture. 
 
 It was, however, too complicated, too cum- 
 bersome and expensive, performed too little 
 service, and required too much tinkering and 
 repairs to be viewed as a practical and available 
 implement. The English farmer found the 
 sickle or reap hook preferable, for it was every- 
 where resorted to. The cutting apparatus of 
 Bell's consisted of shears, one half stationary, 
 the other vibrating, and turning on the bolt 
 83
 
 that confined them to the iron bar which ex- 
 tends across the front of the frame. The vi- 
 brating motion was given by connecting the 
 back end of one shear to a bar making the 
 bolt the fulcrum and which was attached to 
 a crank, revolving by gear to the driving 
 wheels. 
 
 A reel was used to gather the grain to the 
 shears, and adjustable, back and forth, and 
 Bell's higher or lower, to suit the height of the grain. 
 Machine A revolving apron delivered the grain in a con- 
 tinuous swath; and the team was attached to 
 the rear of the machine, pushing it through the 
 grain. 
 
 We have been more minute in the descrip- 
 tion of Bell's machine, because it may have 
 been the foundation of some of the early, and 
 nearly simultaneous attempts made in this 
 country. In fact it does not admit of doubt 
 that several were nearly identical with Bell's 
 in the use of the shears and reel, though with 
 much more simple gearing, and in the general 
 arrangement. Whether they were original in- 
 ventions, cannot be ascertained. In this coun- 
 try, from 1800 to 1833 out of some 15 or 20 
 patents granted for "cutting grain" and "cut- 
 ting grass," only four appear to have been "re- 
 stored"; i. e. technically speaking, "not re- 
 stored" in models and drawings after the burn- 
 ing of the Patent Office in 1836. Many, if not 
 
 84
 
 most of them, were probably improvements in 
 the grain cradle, and mowing scythe; though 
 the names are preserved, there is no record to 
 show for what particulars the patents were 
 granted. There can be no doubt, however, 
 that the inventors considered them valueless, 
 as they were "not restored," though Congress 
 voted large sums to replace the burnt models 
 and drawings, without any expense to the 
 parties. Of those restored James Ten Eyck's 
 patent is dated 1825, Wm. Manning's in 1831, 
 Wm. & Thos. Schnebly's in 1833, and Obed 
 Hussey's also in 1833. 
 
 James Ten Eyck used an open reel; not 
 only to gather the grain, but his cutters or 
 shears, were attached to, and revolved with the 
 reel; very much, if not exactly on the princi- 
 ple of shearing cloth. 
 
 William Manning used another form of cut- 
 ters, and quite different from James Ten Eyck's 
 he likewise used fingers or teeth to support 
 the grain during the action of the horizontal 
 cutters. 
 
 William and Thomas Schnebly of Maryland 
 also used the reel, with shears as cutters, very 
 similar to Bell's. 
 
 Abraham Randall, or Rundell, of New York 
 (for the name is spelled both ways), was an- 
 other of the early inventors. His patent of 
 1835 is not restored, though it is stated his ma- 
 
 86
 
 chine was experimented with as early as 1833 
 or 1834. He also used the reel, and his cutters, 
 it is said, were similar to Bell's using shears. 
 T. D. Burrall, of New York, was also one 
 of the early inventors, about 1832 or 1833, but 
 we believe professedly after Bell's, so far as to 
 use a reel and shears. 
 
 None None of these machines, however, Hussey's 
 Successful excepted, were successful, or were used any 
 length of time ; nor is it necessary here to refer 
 particularly to other attempts, about this time, 
 or indeed prior to this period, for they were 
 equally unsuccessful; and their inventors can- 
 not claim the merit of doing a thing, that was 
 not in fact performed making an efficient and 
 successful Reaper. We may here remark, how- 
 ever, that so far as now known, no machine 
 like Bell's, on the shear or scissor principle, has 
 succeeded in this country; or as we believe, is 
 ever likely to succeed. We have seen a number 
 by different inventors, and all have failed to 
 give satisfaction. They may work well for a 
 very brief period and with keen edges; but as 
 they become dull, the shears are forced apart 
 by the straw and grass particularly the latter, 
 and the machine fails, as it inevitably must do, 
 in its allotted duty, and for very obvious rea- 
 sons. If the shear rivet or bolt is kept tight 
 there is too much friction; if loose enough to 
 play freely it is too loose to cut well ; and, last- 
 
 86
 
 ly, it is too liable to wear at the most import- 
 ant point of the whole machine. During the 
 harvest of 1853 in England every effort was 
 made to uphold Bell's machine; in some cases 
 prizes were awarded to it, though evidently 
 partial; for in the face of these awards some 
 who witnessed the trials, and had used Bell's 
 machines, laid them aside and purchased Hus- 
 sey's. At the close of the season, as we learn 
 from reliable authority, even the engineers who 
 operated Bell's, frankly admitted that the 
 American machine as exhibited by Hussey, was 
 the better implement, owing to the arrange- 
 ment of the guards and knives ; Bell's required 
 so much tinkering, that several machines were 
 required to cope with one of Hussey's. At the Hnss y' 
 recent harvest (1854) the Mark Lane Express A ac ' ne 
 
 r American 
 
 acknowledges that the Royal Agricultural So- Triumph 
 cieties' show at Lincoln, Bell's machine was "at 
 last fairly beaten" by Hussey's, including Mc- 
 Cormick's, and Hussey's machine received the 
 prize over all others. It is just, however, to 
 add, that far as we consider Bell's machine be- 
 hind some of the present day, yet complex and 
 cumbersome as it was, it combined more of the 
 essential features of success than any Reaper 
 that preceded it. 
 
 We now come to 1833, the date of Hussey's 
 patent; and to 1834, the date of C. H. McCor- 
 mick's first patent. These were known and ad- 
 87
 
 mitted by all to have been the rivals for popular 
 favor and patronage, from about the year 1844 
 or 1845 to the opening of the great Industrial 
 Exhibition in London, in 1851. To these, there- 
 fore, the enquiry will be more particularly 
 directed. 
 
 We must, however, refer back for a brief 
 period to 1831; for although C. H. McCor- 
 mick's first patent was dated in 1834, yet when 
 he applied for his extension in 1848 he alleged 
 that his invention was prior to Hussey's, as he 
 had invented a machine in 1831, two years be- 
 fore the date of (X Hussey's, and three years 
 before 'the date of his own patent. The evi- 
 dence produced written and prepared by C. H. 
 McCormick and now on file in the Patent 
 Office) was deemed inadmissible and informal 
 by the Board, and it refused to go on with the 
 examination either as to priority or validity of 
 invention without notice to Hussey his patent 
 being called in question by McCormick to be 
 present when the depositions were taken. 
 licCormick's Before, however, receiving the official no- 
 Attempt to t j ce> h e was called on by C. H. McCormick in 
 * ss f ys Baltimore, and requested to sign a paper, 
 
 Signature 
 
 agreeing or admitting, that the testimony he 
 had himself prepared should be considered evi- 
 dence i. e. considered formal; alleging that it 
 would save him trouble and expense in going 
 to Virginia. This was declined by Hussey on 
 
 88
 
 the ground that he might thus unwittingly in- 
 jure himself; he having previously applied for 
 an extension of his own Patent. Neither was 
 he then aware of the nature of this evidence; 
 or until this interview, was he advised of C. H. 
 McCormick's application for extension. 
 
 Hussey was subsequently duly notified by 
 order of the Board to be present at taking the 
 depositions in Augusta County, Virginia, the 
 Board having adjourned three weeks for that 
 purpose. 
 
 Either just previous or subsequent to these 
 proceedings the case was referred by the Com- 
 missioner of Patents, or Board of Extensions, 
 to Dr. Page, one of the Examiners of the office. 
 
 His report is as follows : 
 
 "Patent Office, 
 sir . "Jan. 22d, 1848. 
 
 "In compliance with your requisition I have 
 examined the patent of Cyrus H. McCormick, 
 dated 31st June, 1834, and found that the prin- 
 cipal features embraced in said patent, viz, the 
 cutting-knife and mode of operating it, the fin- 
 gers to guide the grain and the revolving rack 
 for gathering the grain, were not new at the 
 time of granting said letters patent. 
 
 "The knife-fingers and general arrange- 
 ments and operation of the cutting apparatus 
 
 89
 
 are found in the reaping machine of O. Hussey, 
 patented 31st Dec., 1833. 
 
 "The revolving rack presents novelty chiefly 
 in form, as its operation is similar to the re- 
 volving frame of James Ten Eyck, patented 
 2nd November, 1825. 
 
 "Respectfully submitted, 
 
 "CHAS. G. PAGE, 
 
 "Examiner. 
 "Hon. Edmund Burke, Com'r of Patents." 
 
 As some have enquired, and others may en- 
 quire, why a patent should issue under these 
 circumstances, we reply, that previous to 1836 
 but little, if any, examination was made as to 
 priority of inventions, or into preceding Pat- 
 ents; the applicant made oath as to his inven- 
 tion, and the patent was issued as a matter of 
 course. And as another matter of course, if 
 the rival interests clashed, litigation was the 
 result: the Courts and juries often decided 
 what they little understood, and at times not at 
 all, after the pleading of well fee'd lawyers; a 
 pretty fair illustration of the fable of the boys 
 and frogs ; it may be fun for the lawyers but it 
 is death to the hopes of many a poor patentee. 
 We are, however, pleased to perceive a dispo- 
 sition manifested by the courts to sustain pat- 
 ents; even if occasionally an unjust claim is 
 recognized as a valid one, it is better, according 
 
 90
 
 to the legal and moral maxim, that half a dozen 
 rogues should escape punishment for a time, 
 than that one innocent person should be un- 
 justly convicted ; the rogue is almost certain to 
 be caught in the end, and truth will ultimately 
 triumph. 
 
 This testimony was taken in due form at McCormick- 
 Steele's Tavern, Augusta County, Va., McCor- Hussey 
 mick and Hussey both being present. It is too * 
 voluminous to copy entire, but we will refer 
 briefly to each, having read them carefully, and 
 obtained certified copies of all from the Patent 
 office. 
 
 Dr. N. M. Hitt testified to a reaping ma- 
 chine being made by C. H. McCormick in 1831 
 it had a straight sickle blade. 
 
 William S. McCormick and Leander J. Mc- 
 Cormick, brothers of C. H. McCormick, also 
 testified to the making of a machine in 1831. 
 
 Mary McCormick, mother of C. H. McCor- 
 mick, agreed in general with the testimony of 
 her sons, did not doubt but it was correct, 
 "it appears familiar to me," but testified to 
 nothing in particular. 
 
 John Steele, Jr., was tavernkeeper at Testimony 
 "Steele's Tavern," testified as to the year being 
 1831 or 1832. In his amended testimony, ad- 
 mitted that C. H. McCormick wrote the paper 
 describing the machine for him to testify to; 
 
 91
 
 recollects little else about the machine than 
 the straight sickle edge. 
 
 Eliza H. Steele refused to testify without 
 first seeing a certificate previously signed by 
 her; admitted that C. H. McCormick wrote it 
 for her to sign; her testimony as to the year 
 depended on the building of a certain house, 
 on which the workmen put 1831. 
 
 John McCown was a blacksmith testified 
 that he made the "straight sickle blade," and 
 that it was "a long, straight sickle" blade. 
 
 This was most singular testimony to found 
 a claim of priority of invention on, and by 
 which to invalidate another man's patent. 
 There was discrepancy in the evidence as to 
 the year of the invention ; also whether the ma- 
 chine was intended for one or two horses ; how 
 the "fingers" were arranged, and whether of 
 wood or iron, above or below, the "straight 
 sickle blade." Two of the brothers one at 
 least who helped to make, if not also to invent 
 this machine testified that the plan or ar- 
 rangement of the machine here sworn to, was 
 changed in 1840, 1841, 1842, or 1843, they did 
 not know which; from 9 to 12 years after- 
 wards! 
 
 John McCown swears positively that he 
 helped to build the machine, so far at least as 
 to forge "a long, straight sickle;" but neither 
 he, or a single one of the seven sworn wit- 
 
 99
 
 nesses, "ladies and gentlemen," testify that the 
 machine ever worked a single hour, or cut as 
 much grain of any kind as would make a single 
 sheaf!* 
 
 In a long communication to Commissioner 
 Burke in 1848, together with a list of sales and 
 profits, C. H. McCormick states, and on oath, 
 that he had exhibited his machine in 1840 or 
 1841 to a considerable number of farmers and 
 very satisfactorily, though but one person 
 could be induced to purchase a Mr. John 
 Smith we believe and that up to 1842, eleven smith" 
 years after the alleged invention, he had sold 
 but two machines, and one of them condition- 
 ally. Again, in the same paper he states, "but 
 they failed to operate well," and had to be 
 altered in other words they would not work 
 at all. Amongst others, he had applied to "the 
 
 * The reading of this testimony strongly reminds us of an 
 anecdote related at the hustings in Virginia by that talented but 
 eccentric character, John Randolph, of Roanoake, in a political 
 canvass with an opponent, who promised what he would do for 
 his constituents, if elected. Randolph told him he was like one 
 of his overseers, a plausible fellow, but on whom little reliance 
 was to be placed and who, desiring to show what fine crops 
 he had raised, exhibited a better tally board than the crop could 
 justify. "I told him," said Randolph, "this is very good tally, 
 John, but where's the corn? and I tell the gentleman, I don't 
 want to see his tally, but the corn the evidence of what he 
 ever did to entitle him to a seat in Congress." The effect was 
 electric, and the hustings rang with plaudits. Now we would 
 say to C. H. McCormick, this is very good tally, John, but 
 where's the Corn? The evidence that the machine ever cut a 
 single acre of grain.
 
 farmer of Virginia, Mr. Sampson," for a certifi- 
 cate as to the satisfactory working of the ma- 
 chine, but it was declined. 
 
 We are not surprised at this; for some 35 
 years ago we were personally acquainted with 
 this "farmer of Virginia," and also with his 
 mode of farming ; and know that a machine of 
 any kind to please him must work and must 
 also work "well." Richard Sampson was at 
 that early day in this "age of progress," one of 
 the best and most practical farmers in the "Old 
 Dominion," and was not a man to be "caught 
 napping," either at home or abroad. 
 
 The record shows that "on March 29, 1848, 
 the Board met agreeably to adjournment 
 Present, James Buchanan, Secretary of State, 
 Edmund Burke, Commissioner of Patents, and 
 R. H. Gillett, Solicitor of the Treasury and 
 having examined the evidence adduced in the 
 case decide that said patent ought not to be 
 extended." 
 
 (Signed) "JAMES BUCHANAN, 
 
 "Secretary of State, 
 "EDMUND BURKE, 
 
 "Commissioner of Patents. 
 "R. H. GILLETT, 
 
 "Solicitor of the Treasury." 
 
 This evidence, taken in due form, and certi- 
 fied to by the magistrates in Augusta and Rock- 
 bridge Counties, Virginia, was not ruled out as 
 
 94
 
 informal, as we have seen it stated : but it was 
 certainly laid before the Board ; and was doubt- 
 less satisfactory both as to priority of inven- 
 tion, and in connection with Dr. Page's report, 
 conclusive, "that said patent ought not to be 
 extended." 
 
 We have also seen it stated that Hussey 
 appeared before the Board of Extensions "to 
 contest the extension of McCormick's patent." 
 
 We think injustice and no doubt uninten- 
 tionally is here done to Hussey. Until the 
 order of the Board was passed to afford him the 
 opportunity to defend his rights, assailed with- 
 out his knowledge, he was not aware of C. H. 
 McCormick's application. As a matter of Mr. Hussey 
 course he then attended, but stated in writing, Acted in 
 
 ^* " 
 
 and which is now on file, "I had no intention, " 
 neither had I any desire to place any obstacle 
 in the way of the extension of C. H. McCor- 
 mick's patent. But the course he has taken 
 before your Board and before Congress has 
 compelled me to act in self defense." 
 
 Not so with C. H. McCormick; for when his 
 claims were rejected by the Board of Exten- 
 sions, and most justly, as we think, in accord- 
 
 McCormick 
 
 ance with the evidence he petitioned Con- A 
 gress against Hussey's extension: and to this t ], e Hussey 
 most ungenerous, illiberal and unfair course, Extension 
 and of which Hussey was for years totally ig- 
 norant, C. H. McCormick may justly attribute 
 85
 
 this enquiry; but for this, it had never been 
 written. Our object is not to injure C. H. Mc- 
 Cormick; but it is that justice may be done to 
 another, whose interests and rights he was the 
 first to assail. 
 
 If the foregoing testimony is not conclusive, 
 as regards priority of invention in 1831 against 
 C. H. McCormick, we think the evidence which 
 follows and which no one will pretend to call 
 in question, or doubt establishes the fact that 
 the machine of 1831 was good for nothing, 
 not even half invented; and that the machine 
 of 1841 was not much more perfect. 
 
 On page 231 of the Reports of Juries for 
 the Great London Exhibition, and now in the 
 Library of Congress, we find the following: 
 
 "It seems right," says Philip Pusey, Esq., 
 M. P., "to put on record Mr. McCormick's own 
 account of his progress, or some extracts at 
 least, from a statement written by him, at my 
 request." [Pusey.] 
 
 "My father was a farmer in the county of 
 Rockbridge, State of Virginia, United States. 
 He made an experiment in cutting grain in the 
 year 1816, by a number of cylinders standing 
 perpendicularly. Another experiment of the 
 same kind was made by my father in the har- 
 vest of 1831, which satisfied my father to aban- 
 don it. Thereupon my attention was directed 
 to the subject, and the same harvest I invented 
 
 96
 
 and put in operation in cutting late oats on the 
 farm of John Steele, adjoining my father's, 
 those parts of my present Reaper called the 
 platform, for receiving the corn, a straight 
 blade taking effect on the corn, supported by 
 stationary fingers over the edge, and a reel to 
 gather the corn; which last, however, I found 
 had been used before, though not in the same 
 combination. 
 
 "Although these parts constituted the foun- 
 dation of the present machine, I found in prac- 
 tice innumerable difficulties, being limited also 
 to a few weeks each year, during the harvest, 
 for experimenting, so that my first patent for 
 the Reaper was granted in June, 1834. 
 
 "During this interval, / was often advised 
 by my father and family to abandon it, and 
 pursue my regular business, as likely to be 
 more profitable, he having given me a farm. 
 [Italicised by C. H. McC.] 
 
 "No machines were sold until 1840, and I 
 may say that they were not of much practical 
 value until the improvements of my second 
 patent in 1845. 
 
 "These improvements consist in reversing 
 the angle of the sickle teeth alternately the 
 improved form of the fingers to hold up the 
 corn, etc. an iron case to preserve the sickles 
 from clogging and a better mode of separat- 
 ing the standing corn to be cut. Up to this 
 
 97
 
 period nothing but loss of time and money re- 
 sulted from my efforts. The sale has since 
 steadily increased, and is now more than a 
 thousand yearly."* 
 
 It would be just as conclusive and reason- 
 able for the father of C. H. McCormick to claim 
 at this day priority of invention for his Reaper 
 invented in 1816, "by a number of cylinders 
 standing perpendicularly;" or for "the inven- 
 tion made by my father in the harvest of 1831, 
 which satisfied my father to abandon it." This 
 authority, high and official as all must admit 
 it to be, [and italicised too, by the writer for a 
 particular object,] clearly proves that the in- 
 vention of 1831 was an abortion ; for if the prin- 
 ciple was effective to cut one acre of grain 
 properly, any man of common sense knows that 
 it was equally so to cut one thousand acres; 
 
 * "The sale has since steadily increased, and is now more 
 than a thousand yearly." This was written in 1851, and by a 
 little calculation, we can readily estimate the "yearly" profits. 
 In the Circuit Court of the United States, at Albany, in the 
 suit brought by C. H. McCormick against Seymour & Morgan, 
 in 1850, for an alleged infringement of patent, it was proved on 
 the oath of O. H. Dormon, his partner, and also on the oath of 
 H. A. Blakesley, their clerk, that these Reapers only cost $36 
 to $37 to manufacture. By the same evidence, the sales aver- 
 aged from $110 to $120 each machine; leaving a clear profit of 
 at least $73. C. H. McCormick first received a patent fee of 
 $30 on each machine, then three-fourths of the remainder in the 
 division of profits. It would thus appear, if these figures are 
 correct and they are all sworn to that C. H. McCormick 
 realized full fifty thousand dollars clear profit annually, with a 
 margin of eight to ten thousand dollars for commissions and 
 bad debts in addition. 
 
 98
 
 but so complete was the failure that, "During 
 this interval" between 1831 and 1834 "/ was 
 often advised by my father and family to 
 abandon it, and pursue my regular business, 
 as likely to be more profitable, he having 
 given me a farm." 
 
 Again, "No machines were sold until 1840, 
 and I may say that they were not of much prac- 
 tical value until the improvements of my sec- 
 ond patent in 1845." What these improve- 
 ments were we are also informed: "These im- 
 provements consist in reversing the angle of 
 the sickle teeth alternately, the improved form 
 of the fingers to hold up the corn, etc. an iron 
 case to preserve the sickle from clogging, etc. 
 up to this period nothing but loss of time and 
 money resulted from my efforts." 
 
 Nor is it at all surprising ; for until improve- 
 ments were added, invented and long in suc- 
 cessful operation by others, the machine would 
 not work, and consequently no one would buy. 
 
 This letter is the most perfect and complete 
 estopper to priority of invention not only for 
 1831, but to 1841 inclusive, if not to 1845, that 
 could be penned. His pen cuts a "cleaner McCormick's 
 swath," as we farmers say, than ever did his Pen More 
 Reaper ; and this letter at least is certainly C. . "* lve 
 H. McCormick's own "invention," which no 
 one else can lay any claim to. Yet, strange as 
 it may appear, he contended before the Board 
 
 99
 
 of Extensions in order to invalidate Hussey's 
 Patent, that he invented a Reaping Machine 
 nine years before! So has perpetual motion 
 been invented a hundred times in the estima- 
 tion of the projectors ; and by his own showing, 
 and on oath, he sold but two machines up to 
 1842 one of them conditionally sold being 
 eleven years after the alleged invention, and 
 even they had to be re-invented to make them 
 work, or use the previous inventions of others. 
 
 In this letter to Philip Pusey, Esq., M. P., 
 C. H. McCormick admits that the Reel "had 
 been used before," yet he includes it in his 
 patent of 1834. Both the specifications and 
 drawings in the Patent Office conclusively es- 
 tablish the fact that James Ten Eyck patented 
 the reel or "revolving rack," or "revolving 
 frame" in 1825, used not only to gather the 
 grain as all such devices are used, but by the 
 knives attached to it, also intended to cut it off. 
 
 Could it be contended that because rockers 
 are attached to a chair it is no longer a chair, 
 or useful as a seat? Even "Mary McCormick, 
 the mother of Cyrus," and "Eliza H. Steele, of 
 Steele's Tavern, Virginia" nay every woman 
 and child in the country would tell you that it 
 was then a rocking chair just as much a seat 
 as ever and Ten Eyck's was a Reel to all in- 
 tents and purposes, but also a cutting reel. It 
 does not require the mechanical tact and skill 
 100
 
 of Professor Page to discover that "the revolv- 
 ing rack presents novelty chiefly in form, as its 
 operation is similar to the revolving frame of 
 James Ten Eyck, patented November 2d, 1825." 
 It is certain the reel was no "novelty," either in 
 1831 or 1834, when patented by C. H. McCor- Priority 
 mick ; he tells us so himself ; and it is most of the Red 
 likely the father of C. H. McCormick also used 
 a reel for his "cylinders standing perpendicu- 
 larly, in 1816," and also for his other plan in 
 1831, and "which satisfied my father to aban- 
 don it." And it is equally probable that most 
 of the "fathers" and the sons, who invented 
 Reapers for a hundred years preceding the date 
 of Hussey's patent, used reels ; indeed the reel 
 seemed to be considered a Sine qua non by 
 many ; most of the inventors we have any clear 
 account of, resorted to the reel. 
 
 Hussey also used the reel in 1833 of course 
 the reel and seat in combination but only for 
 a short period, as it was found quite unneces- 
 sary an actual incumbrance with his cutting 
 apparatus, and soon laid it aside. 
 
 We will now examine another invention 
 patented by C. H. McCormick, in 1847. We 
 here assert and challenge a denial, that from 
 12 to 14 years after the alleged invention of a 
 Reaper by C. H. McCormick in 1831, and from 
 9 to 12 years after the date of his patent in 1834 
 his raker walked by the side of his machine, 
 101
 
 while Hussey's raker rode on the machine as 
 they always had done since his first machine 
 that cut the grain like "a thing of life" in Ham- 
 ilton County, Ohio, in 1833. Yet, in 1847, C. H. 
 McCormick takes out a patent for the raker's 
 seat! this was a "novelty" and well worth a 
 patent ! 
 
 In two trials of reaping machines by Hus- 
 sey and McCormick in the same fields in Vir- 
 
 _ ginia, in 1843, one at Hutchinson's, and the 
 me 
 
 Raker's ot " er on tne plantation of the late Senator 
 Seat Roane, at Tree Hill, near Richmond, McCor- 
 mick's raker walked by the side of the machine, 
 while Hussey's rode on the machine, in the 
 same manner as he did just exactly ten years 
 before. 
 
 We have three letters from the late Hon. 
 William H. Roane referring to these trials, and 
 ordering a machine from Hussey, after witness- 
 ing the operation of both. Two of the letters 
 he desired might not be published ; but says in 
 one of them, "I have no objection to your stat- 
 ing publicly that a member of the committee 
 who made the report last summer at Hutchin- 
 son's, which was published a few days there- 
 after, witnessed a fuller and fairer trial between 
 the two machines, and has in consequence 
 ordered one of yours. * * * What I have 
 
 said above of is intended only for your eye 
 
 confidentially, to show you in part the charac- 
 102
 
 ter and probable motives of the opposition your 
 Reaper has met. Let what I say be private, as 
 I have a great objection to going into the news- 
 papers. Should you ever want it, you can have 
 from me the strongest public testimonial of 
 my good opinion of your machine." 
 
 The third letter, giving this "testimonial," 
 was published in the American Farmer in Jan- 
 uary, 1844. As the Raker's Seat the main 
 feature of C. H. McCormick's patent of 1847 
 comes fairly within the scope of this enquiry 
 as to priority of invention, we re-publish Sen- 
 ator Roane's letter and also furnish other testi- 
 mony on the subject. 
 
 "To the Editor of the American Farmer: 
 
 "As the question of which is the best Reap- 
 ing Machine is of no little importance to wheat 
 growers, it is highly necessary that they be 
 rightly informed of every fact which tends to 
 decide the question. The trial which forms the 
 subject of the following correspondence was 
 looked forward to with great interest by farm- 
 ers ; such was the partial character of the trial, 
 and the general terms of the committee's re- 
 port, in which the particulars that led to the 
 result were omitted, it cannot appear strange 
 that the public should be in some degree misled 
 with regard to the relative merits of the two 
 machines. If my own interest was alone con- 
 
 103
 
 cerned, I would not thus far trespass on your 
 columns, but you will doubtless agree with me, 
 that it is due to wheat growers throughout the 
 country that the views expressed by Mr. Roane, 
 in connection with the committee's report, 
 should be published as extensively as the re- 
 port itself; I therefore solicit the insertion of 
 the following correspondence in your paper. 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "OBED HUSSEY." 
 
 "Baltimore, January 18th, 1844. 
 
 "To the Hon. William H. Roane: 
 
 "Dear Sir You will remember that a trial 
 took place on the farm of Mr. Hutchinson near 
 Richmond, Va., in July last, between my reap- 
 ing machine and Mr. McCormick's, at which 
 trial you were one of a committee which gave 
 H the preference to Mr. McCormick's machine. 
 
 Letter to "You will also recollect that the machine 
 Mr. Roane w hich I used at that time was a small one, and 
 quite different from that which I used in your 
 field a few days afterwards in a second trial be- 
 tween Mr. McCormick and myself. 
 
 "As the first trial was made under circum- 
 stances unfavorable to myself, owing to the 
 difficulties which prevented me from getting 
 my best machine to the field on that day, and 
 other impediments incidental to a stranger un- 
 
 104
 
 provided with a team, etc., and as no report 
 was made of the second trial, you will oblige 
 me by informing me what your impressions 
 were after witnessing the second trial. 
 
 "I would very gladly embrace the opportu- 
 nity which the next harvest will afford of fol- 
 lowing up my experiments in wheat cutting in 
 Virginia, but the new field opened to me in the 
 great west for cutting hemp, in which I was so 
 successful last September, as will appear by 
 the Louisville 'Journal' of that date, will claim 
 my particular attention this year. I mention 
 this to you lest it might appear that I had 
 abandoned the field in Virginia by my non- 
 appearance there in the next harvest. 
 
 "Very respectfully yours, etc., 
 "OBED HUSSEY." 
 
 "Tree Hill, January 23d, 1844. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 "I received a few days ago your letter of the 
 17th inst., on the subject of your reaping ma- 
 chine; you call my recollection to a trial be- . 
 
 J Mr. Roane s 
 
 tween it and Mr. McCormick's reaper at Mr. R ep i y 
 Hutchinson's in July last, on which occasion 
 I 'was one of a committee which gave the 
 preference to Mr. McCormick's machine;' you 
 also advert to a tr,ial between these rival ma- 
 chines a few days subsequent, at this place, and 
 request to know my impressions after this 
 
 105
 
 second trial. I presume from the fact of my 
 having ordered one of your reapers for the en- 
 suing harvest, that it is your purpose to pub- 
 lish this statement. Averse as I am to having 
 my name in print on this, or any other occa- 
 sion, I cannot with propriety decline a response 
 to your inquiry. I had never seen or formed 
 an idea of a reaping machine until I went to 
 Hutchinson's I was surprised and delighted 
 with the performance of each of them, and fully 
 resolved to own one of them by the next 
 harvest, but their performance that day left me 
 in a state of doubt which I should select. The 
 report spoke in terms of high praise of each ma- 
 chine, and I consented to its award that on the 
 whole Mr. McCormick's was preferable, mere- 
 ly because being the cheapest and requiring 
 but two horses, it would best suit the majority 
 of our farmers, who make small crops of wheat 
 on weak land for I doubted its capacity in 
 heavy grain. After this report was made I 
 heard your complaint that you did not have a 
 fair trial, because being unable to bring into 
 the field your large improved Reaper, which 
 was up the river, you were compelled to com- 
 ply with your engagement for the day, with a 
 small and inferior machine, drawn by an in- 
 different and untutored team. Mr. Hutchin- 
 son's wheat was badly rusted, and therefore 
 
 106
 
 light. I had ready for the scythe a low ground 
 field of heavy and well matured grain; partly 
 to expedite my harvest work, and partly to 
 renew the trial, that I might solve my doubts 
 as to the merits of these machines, I succeeded 
 in engaging them to be at Tree Hill on a named 
 day. They both came agreeable to appoint- 
 ment, Mr. McCormick bringing the machine he 
 used at Hutchinson's, and you bringing the 
 one you could not on that occasion bring down 
 the river. The day was fine, and both ma- 
 chines did their best, and had a very fair trial. 
 My doubts were fully removed, and my mind 
 convinced that for the heavy wheat we raise 
 on our river low grounds, rich bottoms, etc., 
 your machine is superior to Mr. McCormick's, 
 of which I still think highly. I accordingly 
 ordered one of yours to be made for the ap- 
 proaching harvest. 
 
 "I wish you all possible success in cutting 
 hemp in the 'Great West.' It must be very 
 desirable to cut that valuable plant instead of 
 pulling it up by the roots, and I cannot doubt 
 that your reaper has ample power for the pro- 
 cess. 
 
 "Most respectfully, yours, etc., 
 
 "W. H. ROANE. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey, Baltimore." 
 
 107
 
 "We are not advised at what precise period 
 subsequent to 1843 and previous to 1847 (when 
 C. H. McCormick patented the raker's seat), 
 that he changed the arrangement of his wheels, 
 etc., so as to admit a seat for his raker with- 
 out 'tipping up the machine' as was unavoid- 
 able previously. From evidence deemed fully 
 reliable, he was not the first even on his own 
 machine, to provide a seat for the raker, "and 
 all take a ride.' It is laborious enough to test 
 fully the endurance of the most powerful and 
 muscular man, to ride and rake; but to walk 
 and rake is even more barbarous than the old 
 time ball and chain to the leg of the felon. The 
 considerate and feeling farmer would certainly 
 *wait for the wagon* to be better fixed before 
 thus undertaking to reap his grain fields if 
 himself or his hands had to ride in this sort of 
 style. 
 
 "We have a letter from Isaac Irvine Kite, 
 Esq., now of Clarke County, Va., which throws 
 some light on the subject; he says (italicised 
 by the writer) : 
 
 "In 1842 my father, by my request, pur- 
 chased for me of C. H. McCormick and Father, 
 a reaper at $110, which was drawn by two 
 horses, and it was raked off to the right hand 
 side by a man on foot. The father of C. H. Mc- 
 Cormick stated to me at the commencement of 
 that harvest, that it had been nine years since 
 
 108
 
 they had first operated with it, in pretty much 
 the form it was then constructed. On a recent 
 visit to Messrs. McCormick, who then resided 
 on the line between Augusta and Rockbridge 
 Counties in this State, the old gentleman stated 
 to me that he had been at odd times at work 
 on the reaper for many years ; and either he or 
 his son stated to me that C. H. McCormick had 
 been improving, changing or inventing vari- 
 ous parts until they had (as they thought) per- 
 fected the machine. * * * I disliked the 
 labor imposed on the hand who had to walk 
 and remove the wheat from a platform seven 
 feet in width, and urged Messrs. McCormick to 
 attach another contrivance so as to enable the 
 raker to ride and perform his arduous task ; the 
 old gentleman contended that that could never 
 be accomplished, but that a self-operating ap- 
 pendage could be constructed to remove the 
 grain, but that would be uncertain, and entirely 
 unreliable. During my visit, he pointed out to 
 me one or more fixtures they had tried for the 
 raker to ride on. I think one was on one wheel, 
 and the other on two. 
 
 I yet contended that it could be accom- 
 plished ; if by no other means, by changing the 
 construction of the machine, and remarked to Mr> H;te 
 him, if I were a mechanic, and understood the Suggests 
 construction of the machine well enough to S* at 
 venture to alter its parts, I was certain I could 
 
 109
 
 so arrange it, and requested him to urge his 
 son to make the effort ; he replied that it would 
 be useless; that they had tried every imagina- 
 ble way or plan before placing the machine 
 before the public, and that they regarded it as 
 an impossibility, successfully, and properly, in 
 any other way than on foot, and said it was 
 necessary for the heads to be brought round 
 to the right, in which I fully agreed; but con- 
 tended it could be done while the raker was 
 riding or standing in an erect position. 
 
 After this unsatisfactory interview I re- 
 turned home, and at the close of the next wheat 
 harvest I had a small carriage, about 3 feet by 
 3% feet, constructed on two wheels, and con- 
 nected underneath the platform, by means of 
 
 McCormick ghafts tQ ^ back t Qf ^ hea( j Qf ^ ma _ 
 
 Condemns .... . . . 
 
 chine; this during the cutting of my oat crop 
 
 answered every purpose, so far as the raker 
 was concerned, but there was a difficulty in 
 turning. C. H. McCormick came to see this 
 combination sometime during the year, and 
 condemned it in toto. But by the next harvest 
 I had it so constructed, as to be drawn by an 
 iron bar so shaped, appended and supported 
 on the underneath part of the carriage, as to 
 admit of the machine turning in any direction, 
 and the carriage would follow just as the two 
 hind wheels of a wagon do; the carriage had 
 a seat behind, and a thick, deep cushion in 
 110
 
 front, for the raker to press his knees against 
 while removing the grain from the platform to 
 his right hand, which he was enabled to do 
 with apparent ease with a rake of peculiar 
 shape; (it cannot be done with a rake of ordi- 
 nary shape). 
 
 The working of the first carriage was wit- 
 nessed by many gentlemen who approved of it ; 
 and the combination of the second carriage I 
 applied for a patent for. The model carriage 
 can now be seen in the room of the Patent McCormich 
 Office, containing models of all rejected pat- ^ do ?!f , 
 
 . r . . _ . Mr. Hite s 
 
 ents. After this, I heard of McCormick mak- 
 ing experiments at one of his Western fac- 
 tories I think it was at Chicago; and finally 
 he addressed me a letter, stating he had 
 changed the construction of his machine, and 
 had it so constructed that the raker could ride 
 on the machine and remove the grain." 
 
 We think the foregoing letter for it car- 
 ries truth on its face clearly shows that the 
 idea of "changing the construction of the ma- 
 chine," and permit the raker to ride, did not 
 originate with the McCormick's father or son; 
 for "they had tried every imaginable plan or 
 way before placing the machine before the pub- 
 lic, and that they regarded it as an impossibil- 
 ity for the wheat to be so removed regularly, 
 successfully and properly, in any other way ex- 
 cept on foot." 
 
 ill
 
 At the trial referred to at Hutchinson's, and 
 the late Senator Roane's in 1843, it was demon- 
 strated that a raker could ride and rake, and as 
 was also done by Hussey many years before, 
 at various places, and delivering the grain at 
 back or side. But we have still better evi- 
 dence than the above C. H. McCormick him- 
 self. 
 
 His Patent of 1847, covering some four or 
 five folio pages, is altogether to change "the 
 construction of the machine," to admit of, and 
 to patent the raker's seat ; the substance of the 
 whole is comprised within the following brief 
 extract from the patent of 1847 : 
 
 "And the gearing which communicates mo- 
 tion to the crank is placed back of the driving 
 wheel, which is therefore subject to be clogged 
 by sand, dirt, straw, etc. and in consequence 
 McCormick's Q f t ^ e re ] at j ve position of the various parts, 
 
 Raker's tne atten ^ ant is obliged to walk on the 
 Seat ground by the side of the machine, to rake 
 the cut grain from the platform as it is deliv- 
 ered and laid there by the reel. These defects 
 which have so much retarded the introduction 
 into practical and general use of Reaping Ma- 
 chines, I have remedied by my improvements, 
 the nature of which consists in placing the driv- 
 ing wheels further back than heretofore, and 
 back of the gearing which communicates mo- 
 tion to the sickle, which is placed in a line back 
 112
 
 of the axis of the driving wheel, the connexion 
 being formed, etc., and also bringing the driv- 
 ing wheel sufficiently far back to balance the 
 frame of the machine with the raker on it, to 
 make room for him to sit or stand on the 
 frame," etc., etc. "which cannot be done, if 
 the raker walks by the side of the machine, as 
 heretofore." 
 
 Now if C. H. McCormick's testimony in his 
 own favor, can be considered reliable, he eer- Hnssey 
 tainly had not invented a seat for his raker as Fourteen 
 late as 1845 and not long prior to 1847, when Years 
 
 A L. J 
 
 he patented it; and just fourteen years after 
 Hussey had used it every year, successively. 
 The raker's seat therefore was just as original 
 an invention as the reel. 
 
 The "straight sickle blade," but cut one 
 way only, and abandoned some 10 or 12 years 
 after its conception in 1831, as he states, ap- 
 pears to be the only original idea properly 
 belonging to whom it may in the patent of 
 1834. As to the "foundation" of the machine, 
 viz : the platform, cog wheels, crank, etc., etc., 
 they have been used by every projector in 
 reaping machines, for a century. 
 
 A machine exhibited at the World's Fair 
 in London, by C. H. McCormick, had the 
 "straight sickle blade," but alternating the cuts 
 every few inches. With such a machine it is 
 impracticable to cut grain, much less grass, 
 us
 
 efficiently, divested of the reel. That plan has 
 since been changed to a much more efficient 
 blade, the scolloped edged sickle. That it was 
 used in the Northwestern States by others sev- 
 eral years previous to its adoption by C. H. 
 McCormick, we believe admits of just as little 
 doubt, as rests with the priority of invention of 
 the Reel, Rakers-seat, etc. 
 
 There is one other important feature, pat- 
 ented in 1845 and referred to in the Pusey let- 
 ter ; an "Iron case to preserve the sickles from 
 clogging;" these we will also take a look into 
 after a while. 
 
 Obed Hussey, as appears by the evidence 
 before us, made his first machine in Cincin- 
 nati, Ohio, where he then resided, in the spring 
 of 1833, and it was patented the same year. 
 The Hussey His principle the arrangement and con- 
 Prmciple struct i on o f t h e Guards and Knives was pre- 
 cisely identical with those used by him at the 
 present day, except an improvement patented 
 in 1847, leaving openings at the back end of the 
 slot in the guards for the escape of particles of 
 straw or grass that might get in between the 
 blades and guards. 
 
 It was communicated at the time by letter 
 with a diagram to a personal friend now living, 
 and of the highest respectability, from whom 
 we have a certificate, and copy of the drawing. 
 The knives or cutters, for lack of more suitable 
 
 114
 
 materials were made out of hand saw blades 
 cut into suitable form, and riveted to a bar, 
 vibrating through an opening or slot in the 
 guards. 
 
 Judge Foster, residing within a few miles 
 of the city, and to whom he applied, kindly 
 offered him every facility to test the machine 
 by cutting grain, ripe and unripe, being him- 
 self greatly interested in its success. When 
 taken to the field, a considerable number of 
 persons were attracted to the spot; and rather 
 to the discomfiture of the inventor, for it may 
 well be supposed it was an anxious moment * 
 to him, and he desired no witnesses to his fail- 
 ure. The machine was started; but owing to 
 some part giving away, or some slight defect 
 not apparent until then, it failed to work satis- 
 factorily. One burley fellow present picked 
 up a cradle, and, swinging it with an air of 
 great exultation, exclaimed, "this is the ma- 
 chine to cut the wheat!" 
 
 After the jeers and merriment of the crowd 
 had somewhat subsided, the inventor remedied 
 the defect, and assisted by the laborers present 
 the horses having been removed pulled the 
 machine to the top of an adjacent hill; when 
 alone, he drew the machine down the hill, and 
 through the standing grain, when it cut every 
 head clean in its track! 
 
 115
 
 The same machine was directly afterwards 
 exhibited before the Hamilton County Agri- 
 cultural Society near Carthage, on the 2nd of 
 July, 1833. Of its operation and success, the 
 following statements, and certificates, now in 
 our possession, sufficiently testify. Doctor 
 Wallace as well as some others of the gentle- 
 men, are living witnesses of what is here stated. 
 
 Cincinnati, November 20th, 1833. 
 This may certify that I was present on the 
 2nd day of July near Carthage, in this county, 
 at an experimental trial with a machine in- 
 vented by Mr. Obed Hussey for cutting grain. 
 The operation was performed on a field of 
 wheat. The machine was found to cut the 
 Wallace wheat clean, and with great rapidity. But 
 owing to its having been imperfectly made, 
 being only constructed for the experiment, 
 some parts of wood which should have been 
 made of iron, and in consequence frequently 
 getting some parts out of order, a correct esti- 
 mate of the quantity of work it would perform 
 in a given time could not be made. One point 
 was, however, satisfactorily established, that 
 the principle upon which the machine is con- 
 structed will operate ; and when well built will 
 be an important improvement, and greatly 
 facilitate the harvesting of grain. I would also 
 remark that the horses moving the machine 
 
 116
 
 were walked, and trotted, and it was found to 
 cut best with the greatest velocity. 
 
 C. D. WALLACE, 
 Secretary of the Hamilton County 
 Agricultural Society. 
 
 We, the undersigned, witnessed the exhibi- 
 bition of Mr. O. Hussey's Machine for cutting 
 grain alluded to by Dr. Wallace, and do fully 
 concur with his statement of its performance. 
 
 We would further add, that notwithstanding 
 
 , . Exceeded 
 
 its temporary construction, its performance far 
 
 exceeded our expectations. Cutting the grain 
 clean and rapidly, and leaving it in good order 
 for binding. We are of the opinion that the 
 machine is capable of being propelled at the 
 rate of five miles the hour, and do good work. 
 The machine was worked when the cutters 
 were both in a sharp and a dull condition, and 
 no difference could be perceived in its execu- 
 tion. 
 
 (Signed) "G. A. MAYHEW, 
 
 "T. R. SEEKING, 
 
 "A. CASTNER, 
 
 "JACOB WHITE, 
 
 "H. B. COFFIN, 
 
 "C. F. COFFIN, 
 
 "S. W. FOLGER, 
 
 "T. B. COFFIN, 
 
 "WM. PADDOCK." 
 
 117
 
 There are several other certificates equally 
 conclusive and satisfactory; but we will only 
 copy in addition to the foregoing, a short piece 
 from the Farmer and Mechanic, issued July 
 3d, 1833, in Cincinnati, as follows: 
 
 "Several members of the Agricultural So- 
 ciety on last Wednesday attended in Carthage 
 to see a machine for cutting wheat by horse 
 power, in operation. It was propelled by two 
 horses, and cut as fast as eight persons could 
 conveniently bind, doing the cutting neatly. 
 
 "This machine is the invention of Mr. O. 
 Hussey, and will no doubt prove a useful addi- 
 tion to our agricultural implements. Mr. J. C. 
 Ludlow suggested that it would be good econ- 
 omy of time and labor to take a threshing ma- 
 chine into the field and thresh out the grain as 
 it is reaped, thereby saving the binding and 
 hauling to the barn or stack. We think the 
 suggestion a good one." 
 
 The Here, then, was the problem solved the 
 Problem great discovery made that had puzzled the 
 Solved b ra i ns o f hundreds if not of thousands, and for 
 centuries. No one we fearlessly assert had 
 ever succeeded so completely and satisfactor- 
 ily, and with so simple and practical a machine. 
 
 Some visited the exhibition determined to 
 condemn as they afterwards acknowledged, 
 deeming the thing impracticable; but all were 
 convinced; for the demonstration was of that 
 
 118
 
 character which left no room for doubt or cavil 
 in the minds of any. 
 
 It was indeed a triumph, not perhaps en- A Great 
 tirely unexpected to the inventor but neither Triumph 
 he, nor any one else at that early day, could 
 foresee the wonderful changes ultimately to 
 be effected, and the world-wide renown to be 
 conferred on the inventor as the result of this 
 experiment ; one that was certain to immortal- 
 ize his name as a pioneer and benefactor in the 
 most useful and peaceful pursuits in life. It 
 was too, the dawn of a brighter day to the toil- 
 ing husbandman, by lightening his labors, and 
 adding to his comfort and independence; only 
 circumscribed in its beneficial influence by the 
 bounds of civilization. 
 
 Some may possibly suppose that we view 
 the invention in too glowing colors; but we 
 have yet to meet with the farmer who owned 
 a good reaping and mowing machine that 
 would dispense with its advantages for twice 
 the cost of the implement, and again be com- 
 pelled to resort to the sickle, the cradle, and 
 the scythe; for of a truth it completely super- 
 sedes all three in competent hands and with 
 fair usage, in both the grain and grass crops. 
 
 It is difficult to confine our narrative to its 
 intended brief limits and select from the mass 
 of evidence on hand as to the uninterrupted 
 success of Hussey's invaluable invention from 
 
 119
 
 that day to the present now twenty-one 
 years. We will therefore only select a single 
 and short account of each year; until about 
 1840 or '42; not long after which a few other 
 inventors came before the public. There was, 
 No however, no competitor in the field from 1833 
 Competitors to 1841 or 1842) either in Europe or America, 
 so far as we can ascertain, that did more than 
 make a few occasional trials; none attracted 
 public attention, or were successful and effi- 
 cient machines even in the estimation of the 
 projectors themselves. The evidence proves 
 it, and it is corroborated by our own personal 
 knowledge, having been constantly engaged in 
 Agricultural and Mechanical pursuits for more 
 than thirty years and, as we believe, familiar 
 with most of the important improvements of 
 the age ; of all in fact, directly connected with 
 agriculture in its labor saving implements, of 
 any notoriety. 
 
 Many alleged improvements have been 
 made in the Reaper in the past ten or twelve 
 years; and many more still within half that 
 period. How far they are new inventions, and 
 actual improvements, we can better judge by 
 examining Hussey's patent; for it describes 
 the cutting apparatus clearly and minutely, 
 and which in fact is the whole thing, the 
 "one thing needful" to success. For the use 
 of wheels, or a system of gearing to all kinds 
 120
 
 of motive machinery is coeval with the first No Reaping 
 dawn of mechanical science. How ancient we M f chmc 
 know not, for the Prophets of old spoke of Husse 
 "wheels within wheels" near three thousand Principles 
 years ago; and it is very certain the hand of 
 man, unaided by wheels and machinery, never 
 erected the vast Pyramids and other struc- 
 tures of antiquity. We do not believe there is 
 a single Reaping and Mowing machine in suc- 
 cessful operation on this continent that is not 
 mainly indebted to Hussey's invention in the 
 cutting apparatus, for its success: deprive 
 them of this essential feature disrobe them 
 of their borrowed plumes, and their success 
 would be like the flight of the eagle, suddenly 
 bereft of his pinions, he must fall; and the 
 machines would stand still, for not a farmer in 
 the land would use them. 
 
 As previously remarked, O. Hussey's first 
 patent is dated in 1833. We omit the more 
 general description of the machine, and copy 
 only what embraces the most important fea- 
 tures, the guards and knives; also an extract 
 from his improvement patented in 1847, to 
 obviate choking in the guards: 
 
 "On the front edge of the platform is fixed 
 the cutting or reaping apparatus, which is con- 
 structed in the following manner: A series of 
 iron spikes, and which I will call guards, arc 
 fixed permanently to the platform, and extend 
 121
 
 seven or eight inches, more or less, beyond the 
 edge of the platform, parallel to each other, 
 horizontal, and pointing forward. These 
 The Guards guards are about three inches apart, of a suit- 
 able size, say three-quarters of an inch square, 
 more or less, at the base, and lessening towards 
 the points. The guards are formed of a top 
 and bottom piece, joined at the point and near 
 the back, being nearly parallel, and about one- 
 eighth of an inch apart, forming a horizontal 
 mortice or slit through the guard; these mor- 
 tices being on a line with each other, form a 
 continued range of openings or slits through 
 the guards. The first guard is placed on the 
 rear of the right wheel, and the last at the ex- 
 treme end of the platform, and the intermedi- 
 ate guards at equal distances from each other, 
 and three inches apart, more or less, from cen- 
 ter to center. 
 
 "The cutter or saw (f) is formed of thin 
 triangular plates of steel fastened to a straight 
 fiat rod, (g) of steel, iron or wood, one inch 
 The Cotter and a half wide ; these steel plates are arranged 
 side by side, forming a kind of saw with teeth 
 three inches at the base, and four and a half 
 inches long, more or less, sharp on both sides, 
 and terminating nearly in a point. The saw 
 is then passed through all the guards in the 
 aforesaid range of mortices, the size of the 
 mortice being suited to receive the saw with 
 
 122
 
 Diagram Showing Arrangement of Guards and Knives
 
 the teeth pointing forward; observing always 
 that the points of the saw teeth should corre- 
 spond with the center of the guards. One end 
 of the saw is connected with a pitman moved 
 by a crank, and receiving its motion from the 
 main axis, by one or two sets of cog wheels. 
 The vibration of this crank must be equal to 
 the distances of the centers of the guards, or 
 the points of the saw teeth, or thereabouts, so 
 when the machine is in motion, the point of 
 each saw tooth may pass from center to center 
 of the guards on each side of the same tooth at 
 every vibration of the crank ; if the main wheels 
 are three feet four inches in diameter, they 
 should in one revolution give the crank sixteen 
 vibrations, more or less; the saw teeth should 
 play clear of the guards, both above and 
 below. * * * 
 
 "The power is given by locking the wheels 
 to the main axis, the machine has one square 
 wheel box, the other round and locked at 
 pleasure. If the power should be wanted, 
 
 one, two, or more horses are attached and , 
 
 . , , . Operation 
 
 driven on the stubble before the machine, 
 
 the right wheel running near the standing 
 grain, the platform with the saw in its front 
 edge extends on the right, at right angles with 
 the direction of the horses, with the guards and 
 saw teeth presented to the standing grain 
 when the machine moves forward, the saw 
 
 123
 
 moves with the teeth endwise and horizontal, 
 the grain or grass is brought between the 
 guards, the saw teeth in passing through the 
 guards, cut the stalk while held both above and 
 below the saw the butts of the grain receive 
 an impulse forward by the motion of the ma- 
 chine while in the act of being cut, which 
 causes the heads of the grain to fall directly 
 backwards on the platform in this manner the 
 platform receives the grain until a sufficient 
 quantity is collected to make one or more bun- 
 dles, according to the pleasure of the operator, 
 then it is deposited with a proper instrument 
 by the operator, who may ride on the ma- 
 chine." 
 
 Here follows the dimensions of a machine 
 suited to two horses, which is only copied so 
 far as refers to the cutting apparatus, viz : "The 
 back of the saw may be from one inch to one 
 and one-half inches wide, and from three-six- 
 teenths to one-quarter of an inch thick ; and the 
 steel plates for the teeth should be about one- 
 tenth of an inch thick; one end of the mortice 
 in the guard should be fitted to receive the 
 back of the saw, so that the bearing may be 
 on the back of the saw only." 
 
 "In this machine the following points are 
 claimed as new and original : 1st. The straight 
 horizontal saw, with the teeth sharp on their 
 two sides for cutting grain. 2d. The guards 
 
 124
 
 forming double bearers above and below the The Fonr 
 saw, whereby the cutting is made sure, whether Es8 * ntial 
 with a sharp or dull edge, the guards at the 
 same time protecting the saw from rocks or 
 stones, or other large substances it may meet 
 with. 3d. The peculiar construction that the 
 saw teeth may run free, whereby the necessary 
 pressure and consequent friction of two cor- 
 responding edges cutting together, as on the 
 principle of scissors, is entirely avoided. 4th. 
 The peculiar arrangement by which the horses 
 are made to go before the machine, being more 
 natural, and greatly facilitating the use of the 
 machine, and the general arrangement of the 
 points as above described. 
 
 "In cutting grass, the platform is reduced 
 in width, and the grass falls on the ground as 
 it is cut." 
 
 In the improvement of the guards patented 
 in 1847, the claim states : "I accordingly claim 
 the opening above the blades A, fig. 3, and at 
 D, fig. 1, in combination with vibrating blades. 
 I also claim the particular application of the 
 flush edge at the fork of the blades, for the 
 purpose described. 
 
 "The end and design of the improvements 
 above claimed is to prevent the blades chok- 
 ing." 
 
 En passant, we would ask any intelligent 
 and candid farmer or mechanic who has ex- 
 195
 
 amined a successful reaper, to compare the 
 foregoing plain specifications which all can un- 
 derstand, with the cutting apparatus of the 
 most successful modern machine. And we 
 would especially desire him to compare them 
 in principle with the "improved form of fingers 
 to hold up the corn, and an iron case to pre- 
 serve the sickles from clogging;" not the al- 
 leged invention of 1831, by C. H. McCormick, 
 and abandoned from 1840 to 1843, but the 
 McCormick c i amis patented by him in 1845 [as stated in 
 
 Twelve 
 
 Tears Late t ^ ie ^ etter to Philip Pusey, M. P.], twelve years 
 after the date of Hussey's patent, and twelve 
 years after his most complete and uninterrupt- 
 ed success in cutting both grain and grass. In 
 fact, there was no year from and including 
 1833 up to 1854, a period of 21 years the past 
 harvest, that we have not the most positive 
 and conclusive evidence of the success of Hus- 
 sey's reaper; in numerous cases the same ma- 
 chines had cut from 500 to 800, and even one 
 thousand acres; in one instance, the same ma- 
 chine was used for fourteen harvests, or as 
 many years, successively and successfully. 
 
 We have given some of the evidence for 
 1833. For 1834 we annex two letters giving 
 an account of the two machines made this 
 year, one in Illinois, and the other in New 
 York, viz: 
 
 196
 
 "Spring Creek, Sangamon Co., 111., 
 
 "October 1st, 1854. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey, Baltimore: 
 
 "Dear Sir: Your favor of August 10th 
 came to hand a few days since. The reason 
 was, it lay at Berlin (formerly Island Grove 
 Post-office) and my Post-office address is 
 Springfield, the only place where I call for 
 letters. 
 
 "In answer to your query, how your Reap- Canfield 
 ing Machine worked in 1834, I have to say that Testimonial 
 it cut about sixteen acres of wheat for me on 
 my farm ; that it did the work in first rate style ; 
 according to my best recollection, as well as 
 any of the machines that have since been in- 
 troduced. The only objection I recollect being 
 made, was, that when the straw was wet, or 
 there was much green grass among the wheat, 
 the blades would choke. You certainly demon- 
 strated in 1834 the practicability of cutting 
 grain or grass with horse-power; and all the 
 machines since introduced seem to have copied 
 your machine in all its essential features. 
 "I am respectfully yours, 
 "JOHN E. CANFIELD." 
 
 The next letter we copy from the Genesee 
 Farmer of December 6th, 1834. The reader 
 will readily perceive that the author, William 
 
 197
 
 C. Dwight, knew how to handle the pen as well 
 as the plow, and equally well to work the 
 reaper, being a practical farmer. But we are 
 pained to add that he lost his life by the fatal 
 railroad accident at Norwalk, Ct., about a year 
 since. 
 
 From the Genesee Farmer, December 6, 1834. 
 
 "To the Editor of the Genesee Farmer: 
 
 "I wrote you last May that Mr. Hussey, the 
 inventor of a machine for harvesting wheat, 
 had left in this village one of his machines for 
 the purpose of giving our farmers an oppor- 
 tunity to test its value, and I promised to write 
 you further about it when it had been put to 
 use. For many reasons which will not interest 
 either yourself or the public, the matter has 
 been delayed till the first rainy day, after my 
 fall work was out of the way, should give 
 leisure to remember and fulfill my promise. 
 
 "The machine has been fully tried, and I 
 am gratified to be able to say that it has fully 
 succeeded; hundreds of farmers from the dif- 
 ferent towns of this and the adjoining counties 
 have witnessed its operations, and all have not 
 only expressed their confidence in its success, 
 but their gratification in the perfection of the 
 work. 
 
 "As every inquirer asks the same series of 
 questions, I presume your readers will have a 
 128
 
 like course of thought, and wish for satisfac- 
 tion in the same particulars. To give them 
 this, I will write them in their order, and give 
 the answers : 
 
 "Does the machine make clean work? 
 
 "It saves all the grain. To use the lan- 
 guage of a gratified looker-on, an old and ex- 
 perienced farmer, 'it cheats the hogs.'* 
 
 "Does the machine expedite the work? 
 
 "What the machine is capable of accom- 
 plishing, we who have used it can hardly say, 
 as we had no field in fit order, large enough 
 for a fair trial through a whole day; and can 
 only say what it has done. Five acres of heavy 
 wheat, on the Genesee flats, were harvested in 
 two hours and a quarter. 
 
 "In what condition is the wheat left, and 
 how is the work done where the wheat is 
 lodged? 
 
 "The machine leaves the wheat in gavels 
 large enough for a sheaf, and where grain 
 stands well enough to make fair work with the 
 cradle, it leaves the straw in as good condition 
 to bind as the gavels of a good reaper. Whether 
 the grain stands or is lodged is of little con- 
 sequence, except as to the appearance of the 
 sheaf, and the necessity of saving more straw, 
 when lodged, than is desirable. The condition 
 
 * The bogs are the gleaners in this section of country. 
 129
 
 of the sheaf when the grain is lodged depends 
 much upon the adroitness of the raker. 
 
 "What number of hands, and what strength 
 of team is necessary to manage the machine 
 advantageously ? 
 
 "Two men, one to drive the team and the 
 other to rake off the wheat, and two horses, 
 work the machine; but when the grain is 
 heavy, or the land mellow, a change of horses 
 is necessary, as the gait of the horses is too 
 rapid to admit of heavy draft. The horses go 
 at the rate of four to five miles an hour, and 
 when the growth of straw is not heavy a fair 
 trot of the team is not too much. 
 
 "Is the machine liable to derangement and 
 destruction from its own motion? 
 
 "This is a question which cannot be so 
 directly answered as the others. We have only 
 used the machine to cut about fifty acres, and 
 have had no trouble; judging from appear- 
 ances so far, should say it was as little subject 
 to this evil as any machinery whatever. The 
 wear upon the cutting part being so little as to 
 require not more than fifteen minutes sharpen- 
 ing in a day; there is no loss of time on this 
 score. 
 
 "Is the sheaf a good one to thresh? 
 
 "The man who has fed the threshing ma- 
 chine with the grain of twenty acres cut by 
 this machine, says the sheaves are much better 
 
 130
 
 than those of cradled grain, and quite as good 
 as those of a reaper. 
 
 "There is one more advantage beyond ordi- 
 nary inquiries, of consequence, where so much 
 grain is raised as in this valley; be the grain 
 ever so ripe, there is no waste of grain by any 
 agitation of the straw, and all the waste which 
 can take place must arise from the handling 
 and shaking in binding. 
 
 "I am yours, etc., 
 
 "WM. C. DWIGHT. 
 "Moscow, Livingston Co., N. Y., Nov. 14, 1834. 
 
 "N. B. The machine we used was intended 
 only for upland, but by some little alterations 
 and additions we used it with equal facility on 
 all kinds of soil ; and it can be used on any farm 
 so clean from stumps and stones as not to en- 
 danger the blocking the wheels." 
 
 The following letter is evidence for 1835, 
 and also refers to the originality of the inven- 
 tion by O. Hussey. 
 
 "Palmyra, Mo., Aug. 14, 1854. 
 
 "Friend Hussey Yours duly received. As 
 to the machines sent by you (ordered some two 
 years since) they both worked well. 
 
 "Before you had invented your machine in 
 1831 or 1832, your attention was drawn to a 
 mode of cutting grain, hemp and grass and 
 
 131
 
 you told me you thought you could invent such 
 a machine to be drawn by horses; and after 
 you had returned to Cincinnati from Laurence- 
 burg you wrote me a letter in '32 or at the 
 furthest in '33 (for I left Indiana 2nd Oct., 
 1833) with a draft and description of a plan for 
 cutting grain. The draft was thus (here fol- 
 lows a diagram of the cutting apparatus exact- 
 ly as described by the patent) and the descrip- 
 tion was, that these knives were to work by 
 the motion of the wheels, being a perfect de- 
 scription of the invented principle. 
 
 "As soon as I saw the plan, I was satisfied 
 of its success and wrote to you that there was 
 no doubt of the success of your machine ; that 
 it was astonishing the world had so many 
 thousand years been confined to the sickle 
 when so obvious a mode of cutting grain and 
 grass existed; and shortly after you obtained 
 a patent for the machine. 
 
 "On the 6th July, 1835, you brought to Pal- 
 myra two of your machines, and they were put 
 in operation near this place one in a meadow 
 between here and Philadelphia, and one in the 
 heavy grass in Marion City bottom.* The ma- 
 chines did cut well. I was the editor of the 
 Missouri Courier, from the month of Novem- 
 ber, 1833, until 1838, and brought your ma- 
 
 * Both of these machines wer sold to Wm. Muldrow, 
 Agent, of Marion College, Marion County, Mo. 
 
 139
 
 chine before the public ; it excited much atten- 
 tion, and its performance was highly satisfac- 
 tory. The results of the trials were published 
 in the paper by me in August or September, 
 1835. I knew of the capacity of the machine, 
 and that it did so execute in the bottom three 
 acres an hour. In this I cannot be mistaken, 
 for I felt at the time the deepest interest in the 
 success of the machine. Mr. McElroy is dead, 
 where you boarded, and also Samuel Muldrow 
 and James Muldrow. Still I will inquire if any 
 persons can be found who were present. 
 
 "I know the results, and recollect distinctly 
 the reception the machines met with, and the 
 prices, to wit, $150 each. Muldrow bought 
 another for $500 which was a whirling wheel. 
 You recollect it; it never run any. Yours, I 
 know it was said then, would cut off brush 
 large enough for a hoop-hole. Court is now in 
 session, but as soon as I can ascertain the wit- 
 nesses (at the exhibition) I will write you 
 further. But my recollection is distinct, from 
 the relations existing between us, my interest 
 in machinery generally, and my position as 
 editor of the only paper of this section of 
 country. 
 
 "As ever, your friend, 
 
 "EDWIN G. PRATT." 
 
 183
 
 In 1836 O. Hussey visited Maryland at the 
 written solicitation of the Board of Trustees of 
 The Maryland Agricultural Society, for the 
 Eastern Shore. The fame of his reaping ex- 
 ploits in the State of New York, and the far 
 West, had reached the East ; though with some- 
 thing like a "snail's pace." We had not then 
 the Magnetic Telegraph, which with lightning 
 speed enables the East to talk with the West; 
 nor even the "iron horse," by whose speed and 
 power, the reaper that cut a large crop of wheat 
 in Maryland, could within the same week cut 
 another equally large in the valley of the Mis- 
 sissippi ; but it then required some two to three 
 years to prepare the public mind for the recep- 
 tion of the machine here; and owing to the 
 Mode of limited means of the inventor, the transporta- 
 Trans- t j on f rom place to place was often done by a 
 single horse ; accompanied by the inventor foot- 
 sore and weary from walking hundreds of 
 miles! 
 
 The annexed certificate was given, pub- 
 lished, and widely circulated after a full trial 
 of the machine, in cutting more than two hun- 
 dred acres, and by large farmers and practical 
 men, known throughout the State. Comment 
 is unnecessary on such a paper; but we feel 
 bound to state that it was mainly owing to the 
 exertions of the liberal public spirited gentle- 
 men, the last, though not the least of the sign- 
 
 134
 
 ers, Gen. Tench Tilghman, that the Reaper 
 was then introduced into this State. He was 
 the early and steadfast friend of the Patentee, 
 and to the cause of agricultural improvement 
 in our State. Strange as it may appear to many 
 at the present day, and notwithstanding these 
 demonstrations in Ohio, Illinois, New York, 
 Missouri and Maryland, which did not admit of 
 cavil or doubt as to the entire efficiency and 
 success of Hussey's reaper, scarcely a farmer 
 could be found ready and willing to take hold 
 of it, and aid the inventor in introducing it 
 into use. But farmers as a class are prover- 
 bially cautious, and disinclined to change from 
 established customs and usages; it often re- 
 quires "line upon line and precept upon pre- 
 cept," aided, too, by almost a free gift of the 
 article, to induce them even to give a new agri- 
 cultural implement a fair trial, a plough, for 
 instance, that will do better work, with a fourth 
 to a third less draught ; the old and nearly worn 
 out implement "does well enough." Gen. T. 
 was, we believe, the first farmer in Maryland 
 to use and purchase a reaping machine; and 
 by so doing, to aid the inventive genius and 
 talent of his countrymen, and also at the same 
 time greatly to benefit the interest of his 
 brother farmers. It avails little to the in- 
 ventor, or the public, how valuable his improve- 
 ment may be, for in nine cases out of ten the 
 
 135
 
 An inventor is limited in means, if none can be 
 
 Inventor's f oun d who are both able and willing to lend a 
 Difficulties _ ^ * - . i* * 
 
 helping hand to modest merit; for true genius 
 
 is ever modest; and unfortunately the term is 
 too often synonymous with penury and want- 
 Very few of the really valuable inventions 
 inure to the benefit of the inventors, even to 
 a tithe of the profits that are occasionally 
 realized. His necessities often compel him to 
 a forced sale of his patent right to some capi- 
 The talist who has the tact to turn other men's wits 
 Inventor's to his own advantage; or the Public, which 
 Rewards s i m ply means other capitalists of another de- 
 scription, who possess little or no inventive 
 genius themselves, and just about as much 
 principle as genius seize upon the invention, 
 and often in spite of law, justice, or right, reap 
 the reward justly due to another. 
 
 This, however, is a digression for which we 
 beg the reader's pardon; but we could not let 
 the occasion pass without rendering this hon- 
 est tribute to the public spirited farmer, who 
 had the discernment to perceive its merits, and 
 the liberality to aid its introduction, of one of 
 the most valuable improvements of this, or any 
 age. 
 
 The following three letters not only em- 
 brace the year 1837, but are equally good evi- 
 dence from that period to the present, 1854. 
 As they are short, and to the point, we use 
 
 136
 
 them all. The very appropriate and just re- 
 marks of CoL Hughes as regards the rights, 
 and what is due to inventive talent, we most 
 cordially respond to; as must every right 
 minded and disinterested reader. He refers 
 to CoL Edw. Lloyd of "Wye House" as the 
 largest wheat giowei in Maryland; we much 
 doubt if he is not die largest in the Union. 
 Several years since, he informed us that his 
 average crop of wheat was from 33 to 35 thou- 
 sand bushels; and a year or two ago we learned 
 that the crop exceeded forty thousand bushels. 
 He now, and for many years past has used 
 Hussey's Reaper exclusively. More satisfac- 
 tory and conclusive evidence cannot be given, 
 or desired, than is afforded in these three let- 
 ters, of the early use, and long proved efficiency 
 of the invention, 
 
 "Hornewood, E. Shore, 
 
 "August 22, f 54. 
 
 "Dear Sir: In reply to your enquiry 
 whether I recollect the time, and the success 
 of your reaping machine at my father's in 1837, 
 I answer that I do perfectly; and also seeing 
 it in operation in company with my friend, Mr. 
 J. H. Luckett, of Balto., at CoL H. L. Edmond- 
 son's of Talbot Co. the same season. 
 
 "My father expressed himself highly satis- 
 fied with the performance of the reaper, as did 
 
 1ST
 
 other gentlemen who saw it in operation at 
 Cheston. So well convinced was my father of 
 the value of the machine, that he offered you a 
 considerable advance per acre on your charge 
 for cutting, to remain and reap his two fields, 
 say 125 to 130 acres, which you declined, owing 
 to prior engagements. At an early date after 
 this trial, my father secured one of your reap- 
 ers, and the farm has since never been without. 
 
 "My brother, Dr. DeCourcy, has now one 
 which did its work most excellently well this 
 past harvest, and without any stoppage. With 
 some trivial repairs, it has been in successful 
 use nearly ten years. 
 
 "Wishing you every possible success with 
 your reaper, for which the agricultural com- 
 munity owe you a heavy debt, 
 
 "I am respectfully yours, 
 "N. H. ROZIER DE COURCEY." 
 
 "Baltimore, October 17th, 1854. 
 "To Obed Hussey, Esq.: 
 
 "Sir In the harvest of 1837 I saw one of 
 your Reapers in operation in my neighborhood 
 [West River, Anne Arundel Co., Md.] in 
 charge of the Hon. John C. Weems, who I 
 believe was the owner of it; and was so much 
 pleased with its performance that I ordered 
 one from you in the following year, 1838, which 
 
 138
 
 you set in motion for me. It worked most 
 admirably, and fully met my expectations; as 
 it has done from that early period to the 
 present day. 
 
 "In a loose way, I estimated that in the 
 saving of labor, and grain from shattering, it 
 nearly or quite paid for itself the first harvest. 
 Since then the machine has been much im- 
 proved. 
 
 "Up to the time I purchased, very few had 
 been used in this State. The first, as I have 
 always understood, was bought by that intelli- 
 gent and enterprising farmer, Gen. Tench 
 Tilghman, of Oxford, Talbot County. In 1838, 
 Col. Edward Lloyd, of 'Wye,' Talbot Co., the 
 largest wheat grower in Maryland, and myself, 
 as above mentioned, availed ourselves of your 
 invention; but I did not hear of any other 
 orders for it in this State. It came, like most 
 other agricultural implements, slowly into use ; 
 and I fear has not fairly compensated you for 
 the labor and ingenuity bestowed upon it. 
 This, however, is too often the fate of discov- 
 erers and inventors ; and others reap the fruits 
 of their toil and genius. I have long thought 
 that governments were unjust to inventors; 
 and could never understand why a man has 
 not the same right of property to a machine 
 conceived in his head, and constructed by his 
 
 139
 
 hands, as to that acquired in any other manner. 
 The same that a farmer has to the lands he 
 owns. 
 
 "Very respectfully, y'r ob't serv't, 
 
 "GEO. W. HUGHES." 
 
 "Oxford, Md., Sept. 22d, 1854. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey: 
 
 "Dear Sir: I recently received from the 
 Commissioner of Patents the Report on Me- 
 chanics for 1853, and have examined with much 
 interest the descriptions of what claim to be 
 improvements in the Reaping Machine. 
 
 "I was rather surprised to find that so many 
 of then were almost identical with the notions 
 which were tried and rejected during the sea- 
 son you spent with me nearly twenty years 
 ago ; when for the first time (I believe) a reaper 
 was used throughout our entire harvest, on a 
 farm as large as six hundred acres. 
 
 "You had just then arrived from Cincin- 
 nati with two machines one a reaper, and the 
 other a reaper and mower. 
 
 "They were exhibited publicly at Oxford 
 and Easton, and their operation on wheat gave 
 entire satisfaction. The work throughout the 
 harvest was equally well done; the only ob- 
 jection being the delay caused by repairing 
 the machinery, a difficulty common to all new 
 machines of much power at that period. 
 
 140
 
 "Since then I have used one or more reapers 
 every year, and have watched with much inter- 
 est the progress of their improvement. I have 
 examined most of those which have the best 
 reputation, and do not believe there is a single 
 one in which the cutting principle has not been 
 copied from yours. 
 
 "In attempting to avoid an infringement of 
 your patent, variations have beeen made either 
 in the cutting apparatus, or the driving machin- 
 ery, by which they have been made more com- 
 plicated and less efficient. Burrall's, which ap- 
 proaches nearest to yours in simplicity and 
 efficiency, is so close a copy that I do not see 
 how the courts could refuse an injunction to 
 prohibit the use of it. The only material dif- 
 ference is the attempt at a side delivery which 
 was tried by you on your first machine, and 
 proved an entire failure. 
 
 "Believing sincerely that the farmers of the The 
 U. S. owe you a debt of gratitude, which a re- Farmers' 
 
 gard for themselves should prompt them to _. e _ 
 
 Mr. Hussey 
 
 pay, and understanding that attempts have 
 been made to question even the priority of 
 your invention, I send you a volume of the 
 Genesee Farmer published in 1834, which will 
 show the opinion entertained at that time by 
 the farmers of that celebrated wheat growing 
 
 141
 
 region, both as to the efficiency and priority of 
 
 your reaper. 
 
 "Your ob t serv't, 
 
 "TENCH TILGHMAN." 
 
 As we have already much exceeded the in- 
 tended limits of the narrative, we might, per- 
 haps, with propriety, here rest the enquiry, 
 having, as we think, satisfactorily shown, and 
 by evidence that cannot be disproved: first, 
 that for a. period of nine or ten years after the 
 Conclusive alleged invention of the reaper by C. H. Mc- 
 Evidence Cormick in 1831 he did not sell a single ma- 
 chine; nor could he establish by all the evi- 
 dence adduced before the Board of Extensions, 
 in 1848, that prior to 1840 or 1841 was his 
 reaper in any degree an effective or practical 
 machine; for as he himself states in the letter 
 to Philip Pusey, Esq., M. P., it was not until 
 very material alterations all essential it may 
 be said were made, some six or eight years 
 after the date of the patent, could the machine 
 be made to work even tolerably well. Indeed, 
 he states, "I may say they were not of much 
 practical value, until the improvements of my 
 second patent in 1845," being eleven years after 
 the date of the patent, and fourteen years after 
 the alleged invention in 1831. 
 
 On the other hand we have shown by as 
 good and respectable testimony as can be had 
 
 142
 
 in any cause, that from 1833 to 1854, a period 
 of twenty-one years, Hussey's invention was 
 most efficient and satisfactory, every year; not 
 by cutting a patch of the fraction of an acre, 
 but by reaping hundreds, nay thousands of 
 acres annually, by the few machines placed in 
 the hands of the farmers from 1833 to 1840. 
 
 As, however, we have given no direct evi- 
 dence from Delaware, or Virginia, none from 
 North Carolina, and but one from New York, 
 we annex a few short testimonials from each, 
 that embrace the period from 1838 to 1845 ; and 
 with a few more of the same respectable char- 
 acter up to 1853, both in this country and in 
 England, we will leave the decision of the ques- 
 tion to the intelligent reader. We will, how- 
 ever, call the reader's attention to the conclud- 
 ing paragraph of Maj. J. Jones' letter, from 
 Delaware one of the smallest States, but con- 
 taining as large a proportion of noble minded, 
 talented men, and as good practical farmers, as 
 any in the Union.* 
 
 It will be perceived that a reaper sold in 
 1838 to the St. George's and Appoquinomick 
 
 * It is reported of one of her sons, that during the struggle 
 for Independence, when a Delegate to the Convention from one 
 of the largest and most powerful Colonies was ready to quail 
 and almost despair of success in the unequal contest, he was 
 encouraged and cheered on by a member from little Delaware; 
 and told that when he found his Colony likely to be overrun 
 by the enemy, to call on Delaware for aid she would lend * 
 helping hand. 
 
 143
 
 Agricultural Society had, after subsequently 
 coming into the possession of Col. Vandergrift, 
 and prior to 1845, "cut about seven hundred 
 acres of his grain," and "was then in good re- 
 pair"! We wish it was in our power to state 
 how many times seven hundred acres this sin- 
 gle machine had reaped since 1838. 
 
 "Wheatland, Del., July 21, 1845. 
 "Mr. Hussey: 
 
 "Dear Sir : I have just finished cutting my 
 
 oats; I finished cutting my wheat on the 28th 
 
 of June, having cut over 160 acres, excepting 
 
 what was cut by a cradle in opening tracks for 
 
 An the horses and rounding the corners so that the 
 
 Important machine might sweep round without loss of 
 
 Testimonial ^. . . , . . .. ,. , ... , 
 
 . time in turning, which it did with ease and cer- 
 Delaware tainty, cutting more than twenty acres a day 
 on an average. A part of the wheat was so 
 heavy as to require three active shockers to 
 keep up with the cutting; the whole cost of 
 all necessary repairs 31% cents for the harvest. 
 
 "Of the two machines which I purchased of 
 you I used the large one, having sold the small 
 one to Richard Millwood, who rents the farm 
 of Dr. Noble. Strange as it may appear, I 
 could find no landholder in the vicinity who 
 
 144
 
 had enterprise enough to risk the purchase of 
 that machine until they could see it work ; but 
 after the performance was once witnessed, the 
 impression it made was such as to justify me 
 in ordering you to have ten ready by next harv- 
 est for New Castle County, Del. Mr. Mill- 
 wood's wheat was very heavy, one measured 
 acre having sixty dozen sheaves upon it, and 
 the whole cutting time on the forty acre field 
 was but two days, making for the small ma- 
 chine a full average of twenty acres per day, 
 without any repairing or accident. None of 
 the hands who worked it had ever seen such a 
 machine before those you sent to me. My crop 
 has not all passed through the half bushel yet, 
 but it will fall but little short of 3,000 bushels 
 expect it will all be in market to-morrow. 
 
 "In conversation with Col. Vandergrift, the 
 present owner of the Reaper you sold to the 
 St. George and Appoquinomick Agricultural 
 Society, in 1838, he told me that he had cut 
 about 700 acres of wheat and oats with it since 
 he owned it, and up to that time the cost of 
 repairs had been $1.25 for every hundred acres 
 cut. It was then in good repair. 
 "Yours, 
 
 "JOHN JONES." 
 
 145
 
 "Jefferson County, Va., 
 
 "August 9th, 1845. 
 "To Mr. Obed Hussey: 
 
 "Dear Sir: We, the undersigned, having 
 used your reaping machine during the recent 
 harvest in cutting our respective crops, take 
 great pleasure in tendering to you this volun- 
 tary testimonial of the very high estimation in 
 which we hold your invention. We have now 
 tried your machines fully and fairly, and we 
 are unanimous in the conclusion that in every 
 case they have borne the test in a manner 
 which has excited our highest admiration of 
 their merits. We were particularly pleased 
 with their work in lodged grain; they cut and 
 gather every straw with the utmost ease, and 
 the only fault at all that we have had to find 
 with them was that they did not cut wet grain 
 with facility; this single defect, however, we 
 are pleased to perceive you have completely 
 remedied with the late improvement (with 
 open guards to the knives, etc.) which the 
 most of us saw at work in Mr. Wm. Butler's 
 field cut wet grain and green oats as well as 
 could possibly be desired it will also cut tim- 
 othy and clover so that now we have no hes- 
 itation in recommending your reaper, as we 
 hereby most cordially do, to our brother farm- 
 ers, as the most complete and efficient in agri- 
 no
 
 cultural operations, and as one which, whilst 
 from its simple and substantial construction, 
 is not liable to be broken or to get out of order, 
 will at the same time save its owner the first 
 year more than its original cost. 
 
 "WM. BUTLER, 
 "J. H. TAYLOR, 
 "W. SHORTT, 
 "JOSEPH M'MURRAN, 
 "DANIEL G. HENKLE, 
 "DAVID L. HENSELL, 
 "W. G. BUTLER, 
 "JAS. S. MARKELL, 
 "V. M. BUTLER, 
 "ANDREW M'INTIRE, 
 "ADAM SMELL, 
 "GEORGE TABB, 
 "JOHN MARSHALL." 
 
 "Washington County, Aug. 7th, 1845. 
 "I hereby certify that I have used Mr. Obed 
 Hussey's wheat cutter through the late harvest, 
 and that it answered my fullest expectations, 
 in every respect, except that it will not cut 
 when the wheat is damp from rain or the dews 
 of the morning. I cut 140 acres of wheat with 
 it in nine days; and on one occasion, cut off 
 thirty acres in eighteen hours, from daylight 
 in the morning until 11 o'clock the next day, 
 and with the same four horses, never having 
 changed them during that time. 
 
 "JOHN R. BALL. 
 
 147
 
 "Oaklands (near Geneva), N. Y. 
 
 "26th August, 1845. 
 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey, Baltimore: 
 
 "Dear Sir: Having housed all the grain 
 crops of this farm, it is due to you that I should 
 now frankly admit the removal of all my 
 doubts in regard to the effectiveness and ex- 
 cellence of your 'Reaping Machine.' The 
 doubts expressed in my early correspondence 
 with you arose from the many abortive at- 
 tempts in this country and in England to pro- 
 duce a reaping machine, possessing power and 
 simplicity and durability; most of them were 
 complicated, and proved too fragile. 
 
 "Soon after the arrival of your machine, I 
 tried its power and became readily familiar 
 with the manner of using it; the result of my 
 experience will appear from the following 
 facts : 
 
 "The wheat crop of this farm covered 104 
 acres, producing 2,540 shocks, 30,480 sheaves, 
 as counted on the ground, and again when 
 housed in the grain barn and sheds. 
 
 "The whole crop was cut by your reaping 
 machine in eight days, using one team, a boy to 
 drive and a man to manage the machine. 
 
 "The average quantity cut per day was 
 thirteen acres. 
 
 148
 
 V
 
 "The largest quantity cut on any one day 
 was seventeen acres. 
 
 "The longest period for working the ma- 
 chine on any one day was nine hours. 
 
 "Seven men were stationed on the field to 
 bind the sheaves. 
 
 "The cost of cutting the wheat with your 
 machine is twenty-five cents per acre. 
 
 "The total cost for cutting, raking, binding 
 and shocking is seventy-eight cents and a 
 fraction per acre. 
 
 "The cost may be stated as follows, viz : 
 
 A man and team for eight days at $1.50 
 
 per day $12 . 00 
 
 A boy to drive for eight days at fifty 
 
 cents per day 4 . 00 
 
 Interest on cost of machine and for 
 
 wear and tear, say at 10 per cent. . 10.00 
 
 $26.00 
 
 "Which is equal to 25 cents per acre on 104 
 acres. The seven men employed to rake and 
 bind received, each, $1 per day for eight days, 
 say $56, which sum added to the cost for cut- 
 ting or reaping, gives a total cost of $82, or 
 78 88/100 cents per acre. 
 
 "I have compared this cost with the cost 
 paid by my neighboring farmers this season, 
 and find it vastly in favor of your machine. 
 149
 
 The individual in this town who harvested 
 with the most economy paid $1 13/100 per 
 acre other farmers have paid from $1 25/100 
 to $2 per acre. 
 
 "Since the wheat harvest the machine has 
 cut with signal advantage about twenty acres 
 of oats. 
 
 "The wheat and oats were cut with such 
 neatness and precision that the gleanings were 
 not sufficient to pay the labor of raking. 
 
 "The machine remains in perfect order, and 
 did not fail to perform all you promised. 
 
 "I deem it one of the best labor-saving ma- 
 chines ever offered for the advantage of the 
 farmer; its effectiveness, simple and durable 
 construction, have been witnessed with satis- 
 faction by a large number of my neighbor 
 farmers. 
 
 "Respectfully yours, 
 
 "J. DELAFIELD." 
 
 The machine alluded to in the above letter 
 is the low priced one at $100. 
 
 For 1846, 1847 and 1848 we copy from the 
 Richmond Planter and American Farmer 
 and all from North Carolina, though the evi- 
 dence from other sections is much more ex- 
 tended, and equally as conclusive : 
 
 150
 
 "Somerset Place, Washington Co., 
 "North Carolina 25th Aug. 1847. 
 
 "To the Editor of the American Farmer: 
 
 "Dear Sir : Yours of the 6th ult. arrived at 
 my residence during my absence in conse- 
 quence of which I was unable to return you an 
 answer in time for your August number of the 
 American Farmer. I trust, however, the delay 
 will not materially affect the value of my com- 
 munication. In consequence of the recom- 
 mendation of a gentleman who had used "Hus- 
 sey's Reaper" in the harvest of 1846 with much 
 satisfaction, I was induced to make a trial of 
 one the present season. It was put in operation 
 under the direction and supervision of Mr. 
 Hussey himself, upon a field of reclaimed low 
 ground, originally Cypress Swamp, which of 
 course could only be cultivated in beds these 
 beds were six feet wide, including the water- 
 furrow between, and were intersected at inter- 
 vals of about fifty yards by drains, known to 
 us as tap-ditches, which cross the water fur- 
 rows at right angles, and are cut from two to 
 four inches deeper than the furrows them- 
 selves. I am particular in describing the land, 
 as I had always supposed that an insuperable 
 obstacle in the way of the regular action of any 
 machine would be found in the irregularity of 
 surface into which our land is necessarily 
 
 151
 
 thrown by our system of culture. The machine 
 surmounted every anticipated difficulty, and 
 was eminently successful, both in cutting 
 lengthwise with the beds and across them. 
 The wheat was cut in a most thorough man- 
 ner; nothing escaped the cutting surfaces, nor 
 did weeds or any other obstruction of the kind 
 hinder the machine from doing its work per- 
 fectly. During the running of the machine one 
 day in the harvest, seventeen acres of wheat 
 were cut by it.* This was done by using re- 
 lays of horses, four at each time, the same 
 hands being employed, however, and the work- 
 ing time was twelve hours. After a heavy rain 
 we were obliged to abandon the use of the ma- 
 chine, owing to the fact that the ground be- 
 came so soft that the "road wheel" as it is 
 termed, buried in the soil, and would become 
 clogged with mud. This difficulty can, I have 
 no doubt, be easily overcome by increasing the 
 "tread" of this wheel, and making some slight 
 alteration in the cog-wheel which gears into it. 
 "Some two years since I saw an experiment 
 made upon an adjoining estate with McCor- 
 mick's machine; it cut occasionally well where 
 the wheat was free from weeds, but any ob- 
 
 *When Mr. Hussey was with me I informed him that the 
 piece of wheat cut by the machine on this occasion equalled 
 twenty acres, but I have since discovered that I had been mis- 
 taken in my calculation of the acre. 
 
 152
 
 struction from that source would immediately 
 
 choke it, when of course the wheat would be 
 
 overrun without being cut. The experiment 
 
 proved a failure, and the machine was laid A 
 
 aside. The blade in this machine appears to McCormick 
 
 V "1 
 
 me to be too delicate in its cutting surface to 
 succeed, except under the most favorable cir- 
 cumstances. Quite a number of McCormick's 
 have been in use in this part of the country 
 during the last two years, and to my inquiries 
 concerning them I have received but one an- 
 swear and that an unfavorable one. The few 
 of Hussey's machines, on the contrary, that 
 have been employed within my ken, have in 
 each instance given entire satisfaction. I do 
 not hesitate to say that when well managed, 
 with a skilful hand at the rake, in dry wheat (I 
 do not recommend it when the straw is wet), 
 it will, as compared with ordinary cutting, save 
 per acre the entire expense of reaping, from 
 the thorough manner in which every stalk is 
 cut, thus preventing loss or waste. 
 
 "Believing, as I do, that a great desidera- 
 tum to those who grow wheat upon a large 
 scale, is to be found in Mr. Hussey's reaper, I 
 cannot but wish that both he and they may 
 reap the benefit of its general adoption. 
 
 "I am, sir, 
 
 "Very respectfully your ob't serv't, 
 
 "JOSIAH COLLINS." 
 
 163
 
 "Edenton, N. C., January 25th, 1848. 
 
 "To the Editor of the American Farmer: 
 
 "Dear Sir: Some months ago I received a 
 letter from you, making enquiries of me rela- 
 tive to Hussey's Reaping Machine. When your 
 letter reached me I was on the eve of leaving 
 home for the summer, and since my return 
 home, my engagements have been of such a 
 character as to cause me until the present to 
 neglect replying to it. 
 
 "I have used one of Hussey's machines one 
 season, and though under circumstances not 
 very favorable for the machine, I take pleasure 
 in stating that its operation was satisfactory. 
 During my harvest, which was about three 
 weeks' duration, this machine was kept con- 
 stantly at work, with the exception of a day 
 and a half, yet I did not ascertain how many 
 acres it would reap. Mr. Collins, of Lake 
 Scuppernong also used one last season, and 
 from him I learned that he cut upwards of 
 twenty acres a day. 
 
 "There is certainly much less wheat left in 
 the field by one of these machines than is by 
 the ordinary method of reaping by the scythe 
 or reap hook; it cuts close, lays the straw 
 smoothly, thus rendering tying of it in sheaves 
 much easier. 
 
 154
 
 (From 
 
 Modern Rear-Delivery Reaper. 
 'Who Invented the Reaper?" by R. B. Swift.)
 
 "I have witnessed McCormick's, which I 
 consider a poor affair, and meriting no consid- 
 eration except a dissent from me. Many of 
 this last kind of reaper found their way here a 
 few years ago; they now, or rather their re- 
 mains, may be seen lying in the field whence 
 they will never be removed. 
 
 "THOS. D. WARREN." 
 
 From the Richmond Planter. 
 
 HUSSEY'S AND M'CORMICK'S 
 REAPERS 
 
 "It is very painful to be compelled to inflict 
 a private injury in the discharge of a public 
 duty; upon a particular system of cultivation 
 we can talk and write without restraint; but 
 when we are called on to discuss the merits of 
 an invention, upon which the fortunes of the 
 originator may absolutely depend, it is a much 
 more responsible and delicate office. We are 
 aware, too, that in introducing a subject of the 
 kind, we are opening the floodgates of a con- 
 troversy that is often hard to close; we have 
 had the strongest evidence of that fact in the 
 controversy that once occurred in this paper 
 between Messrs. McCormick and Hussey, and 
 yet it is to the relative merits of the reaping 
 machines of these two gentlemen that we are 
 
 155
 
 compelled again to draw the public attention. 
 Probably not less than fifteen thousand dollars 
 has been spent in Virginia this summer for 
 reaping machines, and it becomes a subject of 
 great importance to the wheat growing com- 
 munity at least, to ascertain how such a sum 
 is annually to be dispensed to the greatest ad- 
 vantage. We shall express no opinion ourself 
 in the discussion which must necessarily follow 
 the introduction of this subject, and we would 
 greatly prefer that neither of the gentlemen 
 more particularly interested in the subject 
 would appear in our columns. We will pub- 
 lish statements of facts for either, provided 
 they are made over responsible names, and are 
 short and permanent. As one of these facts 
 we feel bound to state that we acted this year 
 as the agent for McCormick's machine, and we 
 have heard great complaint of the manner in 
 which it was gotten up; but it is but fair also 
 to state, that we believe Mr. McCormick him- 
 self has been superintending the manufacture 
 of his machine in the State of New York, and 
 that probably his work has not been as well 
 done as it would have been could he have seen 
 to it in person. The following communication 
 is altogether in favor of Hussey's machine : 
 
 156
 
 "I have had in operation on my plantation 
 this year both Hussey's and McCormick's 
 reapers. Now, as you have asked me to fur- 
 nish the Planter with the result of my own ex- 
 perience and opinion as to the comparative 
 merit of the two machines, it is now at your 
 service. I have had them both in operation 
 (as the weather would permit) for the last fort- 
 night, and have cut with the two rather up- 
 wards of two hundred acres of wheat. Both 
 machines have been, I think, very fairly tested 
 in all qualities of grain, from wheat five feet 
 and more in height, both standing up, and 
 lodged and tangled, and averaging, as is sup- 
 posed, from thirty and forty bushels, down to 
 light, thin wheat, not averaging more than four 
 bushels (being some galled hills) and I am 
 candidly and decidedly of opinion that Hus- 
 sey's machine is vastly superior. I deem it Hussey' 
 superior, not only in the execution of its work, Machine 
 
 Vastly 
 
 but in the durability of the machine. So well Superior" 
 pleased am I with its performance that I have 
 ordered another machine of Hussey's for my 
 next harvest, and also one, and probably two, 
 for my father's plantation. I consider this 
 machine invaluable to the grower of wheat, 
 and would recommend every farmer who 
 grows even fifty acres of wheat, to purchase 
 one. He may rest assured that he will be 
 
 157
 
 pleased with his purchase. I shall probably 
 be in Richmond shortly. 
 
 "Yours very respectfully, 
 "T. POLLOCK BURGUYN. 
 "Occonichee Wigwam, near Halifax, N. C., 
 
 "June 20, 1846. 
 
 "For 1849 and 1850 we will return and see 
 how the invention progresses on the broad 
 prairies and fertile lands of the West, where it 
 first operated in 1833 and 1834 and where, 
 too, although the most luxuriant crops are 
 grown with comparatively but little labor, it 
 would in many cases be next to impossible to 
 save them without the aid of this invaluable 
 invention. 
 
 "These certificates embrace the mowing of 
 large crops of grass as well as grain, and in 
 addition, the cutting of more than three hun- 
 dred acres of hemp in the harvest of 1849 and 
 1850, by 'the same single machine.' 
 
 "Hussey's complete success in cutting grass 
 and hemp was no new thing ten years ago ; but 
 we suppose, like the grain cutting, in the view 
 of Philip Pusey, Esq., M. P., 'Its perfection 
 depended on its being new only in England,' 
 full eighteen years after it was effected in 
 America. 
 
 158
 
 "Blackberry, Kane County, 111., 
 
 "August 28, 1849. 
 
 "This may certify that I have had one of 
 Mr. Hussey's mowing and reaping machines 
 on my farm this year cutting wheat, oats, and 
 grass for a short time. I think nothing can 
 beat it cutting timothy grass, and I intend to 
 purchase one for that purpose. While the 
 machine was cutting prairie grass in my field, 
 I cut off a dry poplar stake, one inch in diam- 
 eter, which had beeen sticking in the ground 
 after it had been laid off for a ditch. I am of 
 the opinion that it will cut wheat well, where 
 it is so much lodged, or so foul with stiff weeds 
 or corn stalks that it cannot be cut with any 
 other machine I have seen in this country. 
 Some of my neighbors say that they intend to 
 have Mr. Hussey's reaper in preference to any 
 . other; and from what I can learn this opinion A General 
 is pretty general in my neighborhood amongst Opinion 
 those who have seen this machine work, and 
 are acquainted with other machines. My 
 brother farmers have had great trouble with 
 McCormick's machine, by the breaking of 
 sickles, and the great difficulty or rather the 
 impossibility of getting them repaired, or get- 
 ting new ones made when broken, whereas the 
 blades of Mr. Hussey's machine can be made 
 
 159
 
 by any common blacksmith. I have no doubt 
 but Mr. Hussey's machine will come into gen- 
 eral use. D w ANNIS." 
 
 "Franklin Precinct, DeKalb Co., 
 
 "August 13, 1849. 
 
 "This may certify that we have seen Mr. 
 O. Hussey's machine cut about an acre of 
 wheat, so badly lodged that McCormick's 
 reaper could do nothing with it, nor could it be 
 cradled. Said Hussey's machine cut it hand- 
 somely, and laid it in very good bundles for 
 binding. 
 
 "JOHN SCHOOMAKER, 
 "ALBERT FIELD, 
 "JOHN M. SCHOOMAKER, 
 "DANIEL MILLER, 
 "ALBERT FIELD, JR., 
 "ISAAC GRILL, 
 "JOHN MILLER." 
 
 "Berkshire, Kane County, 111., 
 
 "August 6, 1849. 
 
 "We, the undersigned, having seen Mr. 
 Hussey's reaper work at cutting grass and 
 grain, think it preferable to McCormick's or 
 any other machine that we have seen. It cut 
 wheat that could not be cut with McCormick's 
 
 160
 
 reaper or a cradle. We are well acquainted 
 with McCormick's machine. 
 
 "P. A. HIXBY, 
 "JOHN GRIGGS, JR., 
 "JOHN GRIGGS, 
 "HARRY POTTER, 
 "JOHN SHIRWOOD, 
 "SETH SHIRWOOD, 
 "DAVID SHANKS, 
 "ABRAHAM SHIRWOOD, 
 "JAMES HESS, 
 "ALSON BANKER, 
 "D. C. WRIGHT, 
 "ELISHA WRIGHT." 
 
 "Oswego, 111., August 2, 1849. 
 
 "This may certify that I cut a lot of Black 
 Sea Wheat with Mr. O. Hussey's Reaper; the 
 wheat was so badly lodged that no McCormick 
 Reaper or Cradle could cut it; Mr. Hussey's 
 Reaper cut it clean and laid the bundles out of 
 the track in good order for binding. I have 
 seen the work done by this machine in grass; 
 it was as good work as ever I saw done by a 
 scythe, or better. For my choice I should 
 rather have my grass cut by the Reaper than 
 by the scythe. Every farmer ought to have 
 such a machine, and every farmer I hear talk 
 about it says the same. 
 
 "PHILIP YOUNG." 
 
 161
 
 "Sugar Grove, August 8, 1849. 
 
 "This may certify that we have seen Mr. O. 
 Hussey's machine operate in clean grain, and 
 where weeds were very tall, large and thick. 
 In the former, it operated as well as any ma- 
 chine we have seen; in the latter, it worked to 
 a charm, even where it was impracticable to 
 cut with one of McCormick's Reapers. 
 
 "HARRY WHITE, 
 "L. B. SNOW, 
 "CHAUNCEY SNOW, 
 "SULLIVAN DORR, 
 "HIRAM TUBS, 
 "DWIGHT SPENCER, 
 "SAMUEL WARD, 
 "A. LOGAN." 
 
 "Springfield, 111., Dec. 25, 1850. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 "Dear Sir: I have used one of your Mow- 
 ing and Reaping Machines, and consider it the 
 best machine I ever saw, and never intend to 
 do without one, if it is possible to get one, even 
 if I have to go to Baltimore and remain at the 
 shop till one can be made. I do candidly be- 
 lieve if I had had one ten years ago I would 
 now feel like a much younger man ; and cheer- 
 fully recommend them to all who have grass 
 
 162
 
 or grain to cut, as a machine that will do their 
 work in perfect order, neatness, and with ease 
 to all employed. "JOHN SIMMS, 
 
 "Four miles west of Springfield, 111." 
 
 "Utica, Lasal Co., 111., Dec. 14, 1850. 
 
 "Obed Hussey, Esq.: 
 
 "Dear Sir: I received your Reaping and 
 Mowing Machine in time for harvest, and used 
 it for harvesting and for mowing. I am fully 
 satisfied that your machines are the best yet 
 offered to the farmers of this State. I have 
 mowed about four hundred acres, a great por- 
 tion of which was wild prairie, very frequently 
 running against stones and ant heaps with suf- 
 ficient force to throw both driver and raker off 
 the machine, without injury to the machine. 
 Why your machine is preferable to any other, 
 is, after you have cut your different kinds of 
 grain, fully as well as can be done with any 
 other machine, with not over fifteen minutes' 
 work, you can take the same machine into 
 your meadow or on to the prairie, and cut your 
 grass at the rate of ten acres per day, cutting 
 closer and cleaner than can be done with a 
 scythe. With proper care, your machines will 
 last fifteen or twenty years, with trifling re- 
 
 P airs - "Respectfully yours, 
 
 "JAMES CLARK." 
 
 163
 
 "Island Grove, Sangamon Co., 111., 
 
 "December 25, 1850. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 "Dear Sir : Last summer I received two of 
 Hussey's Mowing and Reaping Machines; one 
 from your own shop in Baltimore, and the 
 other manufactured in this State. Unfortu- 
 nately for me, I retained the one manufactured 
 in this State, and with some difficulty succeed- 
 ed in cutting about two hundred acres of wheat 
 and grass. The one from your shop I let Mr. 
 John Simms have, who cut his wheat, oats and 
 hay (about seventy-five acres) with perfect sat- 
 isfaction and ease, most of it with two horses, 
 and without being obliged to grind the knives. 
 After Mr. Simms finished his harvest he let 
 Mr. James D. Smith, of Island Grove, have it, 
 who cut about three hundred acres of grass 
 with it, the machine giving perfect satisfaction. 
 "Very respectfully yours, 
 
 "EDWARD J. ENO." 
 
 "Carrolton, Green Co., 111., Dec. 27, 1850. 
 "I procured one of Mr. Hussey's Reaping 
 and Mowing Machines from Baltimore last 
 spring; I cut eighty acres of wheat, and ten 
 acres of oats, and fifty acres of timothy with it, 
 to my entire satisfaction after which I cut 
 sixty acres of cloverseed with it in less than five 
 
 164
 
 days. I could not have saved the cloverseed 
 without the machine, so I consider I saved the 
 whole cost of the machine in the saving of the 
 cloverseed alone. 
 
 "SAMUEL THOMAS." 
 
 "Springfield, 111., Dec. 25, 1850. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 "Dear Sir : During the harvest of August, 
 1849, with one of your machines I cut sixty 
 acres of Hemp, using a set of 4y 2 feet knives 
 and guards, and two teams of four horses each, 
 changing every two rounds, which cut on an 
 average eight acres per day. This last harvest, 
 the same single machine, with 6 foot guides and 
 knives,* operated by the same force, cut suc- 
 cessfully 250 acres of hemp, or from 10 to 12 
 acres per day. From this experience, I take 
 pleasure in recommending your Cutters above 
 the hemp cradle and hook, not only as labor- 
 saving, by the expedition with which they cut, 
 but as hemp saving, from the perfect thorough- 
 ness, evenness and nearness to the ground with 
 which they do their work, and the regular and 
 collected form in which they leave the hemp 
 after being cut. 
 
 "Yours respectfully, 
 
 "EDWARD S. COX." 
 
 * The cutters were lengthened by removing i board that 
 previously reduced the cutting space to 4% feet in length. 
 
 165
 
 "Carrolton.Lebanon Co., 111., Sept., 1850. 
 "Mr. O. Hussey: 
 
 "The four Reaping and Mowing Machines 
 you sent arrived safe and in good order. Their 
 performance far exceeded our expectations, the 
 work went on so smoothly that we scarcely 
 knew it was hay time and harvest. * * * 
 If your machine had been as well known as 
 they are now, you could have sold twenty as 
 well as one. "Yours, 
 
 "JONAS WARD." 
 
 The few letters which follow, taken from the 
 American Farmer, and referring to a still later 
 period, are selected for their brevity, from 
 many others, and principally from Maryland 
 and Ohio. It is considered unnecessary to ex- 
 tend the list, for the operation and character of 
 the machine is too well and too widely known 
 at this day to render it necessary to the intelli- 
 gent farmer and general reader, in any grain 
 growing section of the country, f 
 
 t With the view of determining as far as possible which was 
 the best Reaping and Mowing Machines for the farmer to pur- 
 chase, the Maryland State Agricultural Society in 1852 offered 
 a prize of one hundred dollars the largest yet offered in the 
 country for the best machine, to be tested by a committee 
 appointed by the Society; a large committee of men of the 
 first standing in the State, and all large wheat growers, was 
 appointed, and extended notice published of the trial to take 
 place at "Wye," the seat of Col. Edward Lloyd, Eastern Shore, 
 Md., in July. 
 
 166
 
 "Harewood, 12mo., 8, 1852. 
 "Having used one of O. Hussey's Reaping 
 and Mowing Machines during the last harvest 
 (1852) I can state that in cutting wheat, oats 
 and cloverseed also in mowing my crop of 
 grass it has fully answered my expectations, 
 doing the work better than I ever had it done 
 by the scythe, and at much less expense. The 
 machine has been tested by cutting some fifty 
 to sixty acres of grass quite sufficient to prove 
 its complete adaptation to mowing as well as 
 reaping. "EDWARD STABLER." 
 
 "Wye House, Dec. 20, 1852. 
 
 "Dear Sir: Having worked your Reaper 
 for many years I have fully tested its merits. 
 It has proved itself to be not only a wheat sav- 
 ing implement but a labor and time saving one 
 these are all important to the farmer. 
 
 "It does its work completely, regardless of 
 the position of the wheat, if in condition to 
 bind. 
 
 Every effort was made by the Society and Committee to 
 give a fair and satisfactory trial; as the extent of crops in that 
 fine wheat growing region, and extensive level face of the coun- 
 try, are unsurpassed anywhere for such an exhibition. 
 
 But two machines were entered for competition, Mc- 
 Keever's and Hussey's. The prize was awarded unanimously 
 to Hussey. Why no others could be induced to attend was a 
 matter of surprize at the time, and so remains with many. 
 
 167
 
 "Those you sent me in the spring worked 
 well through the harvest, and proved their 
 strength. Yours resp e c tf u lly, 
 
 "EDW'D LLOYD." 
 
 "Oxford, Md., Dec. 8, 1852. 
 "Mr. Obed Hussey: 
 
 "Sir: I have used your Reaper with such 
 entire satisfaction that I am but performing a 
 duty to my brother farmers by recommending 
 it in the strongest terms. 
 
 "For sixteen years I have used a Reaping 
 Machine, and know from experience that the 
 most important qualities are strength and sim- 
 plicity. In these respects your machine is 
 superior to any other, and is the only one I 
 have seen which can be safely entrusted to the 
 management of ordinary overseers, with negro 
 laborers. "Yours, etc., 
 
 "TENCH TILGHMAN." 
 
 "Hayes, Montgomery Co., Md., 
 
 "December 7, 1852. 
 
 "I purchased in the year 1851 one of Mr. 
 Obed Hussey's Reaping Machines. I used it 
 that year and this year in cutting my grain; I 
 was pleased with the machine; I consider it a 
 valuable implement, and hope never to be with- 
 out one while I continue to be a farmer. My 
 
 168
 
 machine was used in cutting wheat and oats 
 it was not designed for grass. I employed it 
 about half the day, and reaped about ten acres 
 of land in grain the rest of the day was de- 
 voted to the securing of the grain ; I used four 
 horses. My machine, I believe, was of the 
 smallest size, and was without front wheels; 
 with wheels it would have been a relief to the 
 horses. 
 
 "I cannot speak of the relative value of this 
 machine compared with others, having never 
 seen any Reaping Machines but Hussey's at 
 work. I do not think I could be induced to 
 return to the old mode of cutting grain by the 
 scythe and cradle. 
 
 "Respectfully yours, etc., 
 "ROBERT P. DUNLOP." 
 
 "Forest Hill, King and Queens Co., Va., 
 
 "December 24, 1852. 
 "Mr. O. Hussey: 
 
 "Sir: It gives me pleasure to state that I 
 used your Reaping Machine in my late harvest 
 with great satisfaction. It fully equals my ex- 
 pectation as a labor-saving implement, and does 
 the work better than can be done by the cradle. 
 I would farther state that the seven which were 
 purchased along with mine for my relations 
 
 169
 
 and friends of this country have given in every 
 instance, entire satisfaction. 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "WM. D. GRESHAM." 
 
 "To the Editor of the American Farmer: 
 
 "Dear Sir: Having had a fair opportunity 
 of observing the performance of Mr. Hussey's 
 celebrated 'Reaper' on my farm last season, 
 under circumstances peculiarly calculated to 
 test its efficiency, I think it not inappropriate 
 to bear my testimony in its favor. 
 
 "I finished cutting my grain more than a 
 week ago. The grain was not only blown as 
 Hat as possible, but was tangled and twisted 
 together, and lying in every direction ; so much 
 so that it would have been impossible to cut 
 a large portion of it with the cradle. No one 
 who saw the field believed the machine could 
 possibly succeed. 
 
 "I take great pleasure in stating that its 
 success was perfect and entire. It cut and 
 gathered the grain in the very worst spots 
 almost as well as that which was standing ; and 
 I was thus enabled to mow my crop in about 
 one-half the time the old fashioned method 
 would have required, thereby effecting a large 
 pecuniary gain. It cuts the grass as evenly 
 and as close as the most expert mower. I need 
 
 170
 
 scarcely say that I am perfectly satisfied with 
 it. I subscribe myself yours, etc., 
 
 "AQUILLA TABOT." 
 
 "Alexandria, Va., 12 mo., 11, 1852. 
 
 "It gives me much pleasure to state that I 
 have had in use on my farm in Montgomery 
 County, Md., for the past two seasons, one of 
 'Hussey's Reapers,' and its operation has given 
 me entire satisfaction in every respect. It 
 appears to combine the three qualities so im- 
 portant to the farmer, efficiency, durability and 
 economy. I can, with great sincerity, recom- 
 mend its general adoption. 
 
 "BENJAMIN HALLOWELL. 
 
 "To Obed Hussey: 
 
 "Dear Sir : Having used one of your Reap- 
 ers upon land, a great deal of which was hilly, 
 stony and rough, I take pleasure in saying that 
 it has given entire satisfaction, and proved to 
 be a very durable, well built, and great labor 
 saving machine. Respectfully> 
 
 "A. B. DAVIS." 
 "Greenwood, Mont. Co., Md., Dec. 20, 1852.'* 
 
 "Pickaway County, O., July 1, 1851. 
 "I made an experiment this season in my 
 field of testing the McCormick and Hussey 
 Reapers. I tried each fairly and under similar 
 
 171
 
 circumstances. I am satisfied that Hussey's is 
 decidedly the best Reaper, both as to cutting 
 grain and durability. The objections made to 
 Hussey's Reaper by agents and manufacturers 
 of other machines I do not find, upon trial, to 
 exist in any one particular. 
 
 "WM. STAGE." 
 
 "We, the undersigned, present at the trial, 
 concur in Mr. Stage's statement: Z. Pritchett, 
 John Reber, Philip Stuart, Isaac Stage, John 
 Hogeland, Michael Eyer." 
 
 "Salem Tp., Champaign Co., O., July, 1851. 
 
 "I have worked with McCormick and Hus- 
 sey's Reapers three seasons, and unqualifiedly 
 pronounce Hussey's the best machine. It cuts 
 cleaner and faster, and leaves the grain in bet- 
 ter order on the ground ; and this is the opinion 
 of every hand in giving an expression of the 
 comparative merits of the two machines. 
 
 "THOS. OUTRAM." 
 
 "Union Township, Champaign County, O., 
 
 "July, 1851. 
 
 "I have for the past four seasons worked 
 Hussey's Reaper, and unhesitatingly pro- 
 nounce it vastly superior to McCormick's or 
 any other Reaper I have seen used. 
 
 "WILLIAM T. ZOMBRO." 
 
 178
 
 "Salem Township, Champaign County, O., 
 
 "July, 1851. 
 
 "I have had Hussey's Reaper used on my 
 farm. It will cut 20 acres of the heaviest wheat 
 per day, with ease. I consider it far superior 
 to the McCormick Reaper. 
 
 "JOSHUA BUFFINGTON." 
 
 "Ross County, Ohio, July, 1851. 
 "I have used Hussey's Reaper, and consider 
 it an invaluable machine. I have seen McCor- 
 mick's Reaper operate, and am of opinion that 
 Hussey's is the best machine. 
 
 "D. M'CONNELL." 
 
 "Union Township, Champaign County, O., 
 
 "August, 1851. 
 
 "I have used Hussey's Reaper for four 
 years. I prefer it to every other machine. I 
 do not have to drive fast, and the raking is the 
 easiest work in the field. 
 
 "JOHN EARSOM." 
 
 "Salem Township, Champaign County, O., 
 
 "August, 1851. 
 
 "I bought a Hussey Reaper this season, and 
 it has given the best satisfaction. I cut wheat 
 that was down as badly as any I ever saw. It 
 operated well by driving in a slow walk. My 
 hands would rather rake than bind. 
 
 "JOHN LEE." 
 
 173
 
 "Union Township, Champaign County, O., 
 
 "July, 1851. 
 
 "I have used for five years Hussey's Reaper. 
 It is a labor and grain saving machine. It is 
 a much better machine than McCormick's, in 
 several particulars; it is more substantial, not 
 so liable to injury, and will cut faster and 
 cleaner. I cut this season, with three horses, 
 sixteen acres of heavy wheat, in five hours and 
 thirty minutes. "REZIN C. WILSON." 
 
 "Bergen, September 1, 1851. 
 
 "This is to certify that I have for three sea- 
 sons used one of Hussey's Reaping Machines, 
 which I purchased at the Genesee Seed Store, 
 and that it gives perfect satisfaction. I have 
 cut my wheat when it was very badly lodged, 
 much faster, better and cheaper than it could 
 have been done in any other way. I had one 
 of McCormick's, but left it in the road, a use- 
 less article, as I consider it, having tried for 
 three years to use it without success. 
 
 "I consider Hussey's machine just the thing 
 for our farmers, and I could not now, after 
 having proved its merits, be induced to be 
 without one. "NOAH WILSON." 
 
 With a few general remarks as to the repu- 
 tation of Reaping Machines in England, and 
 
 174
 
 on the authority of the annexed English pub- 
 lications, we take leave of the subject. 
 
 At the trial for which the "Great Council 
 Medal" was awarded, but which no practical 
 farmer in this country would consider as any 
 trial at all, being merely the attempt to cut a 
 small space in green and wet grain, and during 
 the temporary absence of Hussey, his machine 
 was operated by ignorant laborers of the 
 "Chrystal Palace," and who had never before 
 seen a reaping machine. 
 
 This did not satisfy the English farmers; 
 complaints were soon heard of injustice, par- 
 tiality, and unfairness. It compelled C. H. Mc- 
 Cormick or his agents to offer a challenge, 
 which was promptly accepted by Hussey; and 
 before the Cleveland Agricultural Society a 
 tolerably fair trial was had of the rival ma- 
 chines, though neither the grain nor ground 
 was then in a suitable state. For the decision 
 of twelve prominent men and practical farm- 
 ers we refer to the annexed English account 
 for the complete triumph of the unmedalled 
 machine. 
 
 In an interview with an extensive agri- 
 cultural implement maker of Yorkshire him- 
 self an inventor of many valuable implements, 
 and to no small extent a rival he spoke of 
 Obed Hussey as a man who conferred honor 
 on his own country; as well by his genius and 
 
 175
 
 talents, as by his integrity of character. This 
 feeling was alike honorable to the gentleman 
 who gave it expression, and just to an Amer- 
 ican citizen. 
 
 Obed Hussey is perhaps the only American 
 who ever waved the "Stars and Stripes" on the 
 soil of England [placed there, too, at different 
 Mr. times, on his machine, by Englishmen] or who 
 Hussey's could do it without a strong feeling of envy 
 Distinction an( j j ea i ousv being engendered. Even English- 
 men, jealous as they are known to be, viewed 
 Hussey as a public benefactor, and his mission 
 as one calculated either directly or indirectly 
 to benefit all classes. Yet in his own country, 
 which he has so signally benefited, he is com- 
 pelled to supplicate for years, and as yet in 
 vain, for rights, that others, with not a tithe of 
 his claim and merit, but with more ample 
 means perhaps, or more influential friends, 
 succeed in obtaining. It is a reproach to the 
 age and to the Halls of Legislation. When it 
 was supposed this great invention was per- 
 fected in England, many years ago though 
 not successful, as was subsequently proved 
 the Nation took the matter in hand, and Par- 
 liament voted a reward to its author. 
 
 At the great Agricultural Exhibition for 
 "Bath and the West of England," held at Ply- 
 mouth in 1853, the Plymouth Mail states: 
 ["the interest and excitement created by the 
 
 176
 
 trial of Reaping Machines was very great, and 
 the crowd of persons assembled to witness 
 their performance was immense"] that Hus- 
 sey won the prize for Reaping, by acclamation, 
 over all competitors the only other American 
 machine present, McCormick's included; and 
 an eye witness states that three cheers were 
 proposed for Mr. Hussey by Sir Thomas Ack- 
 land, the President, and member of Parliament, 
 which was responded to by thousands, and 
 without a dissenting voice ; that his reaper was 
 crowned with laurel by the Judges, and the 
 "Stars and Stripes" waved in triumph twenty- 
 five feet high over American ingenuity and en- 
 terprise on English soil. 
 
 At this trial it was again demonstrated to 
 the agriculturists of Great Britain by Obed 
 Hussey [and not the first time, though he was 
 the first to do it] that his machine would cut 
 their grass quite as perfectly as their "corn." 
 The Mail goes on to say : "A mowing machine A Mowing 
 was so remote from the expectations and hopes Ma 5* I ? 1 e 
 
 as Well as 
 
 of the Society, that no prize was offered for a R eaper 
 one ; yet Mr. Hussey was prepared with a mow- 
 ing machine, which was taken to an adjoining 
 field of meadow grass and clover mixed. The 
 people followed, but evidently with no expecta- 
 tion of being gratified. The machine mower 
 was put in action, and to the admiration of 
 every one, it cut the grass with an evenness and 
 
 177
 
 precision which is truly surprising, being more 
 close and even than a scythe. The grass left 
 behind the machine was quite evenly spread, 
 and where it was not so, it lay so light and 
 open that the use of the tending machine was 
 scarcely necessary. The admiration of the 
 truly astonishing performance was universal. 
 
 "The cutting the rye was looked for, but 
 mowing the grass took every one by surprise. 
 Thus a great desideratum has been achieved; 
 the farmer has now only to gear up his horses 
 and take a ride through his meadow, and his 
 grass is cut." 
 
 Again, at the Royal Agricultural Society's 
 Exhibition, held at Lincoln, the present season, 
 the Mark Lane Express states that Hussey's 
 machine won the prize over all competitors; 
 and admits that Bell's machine was "at last 
 fairly beaten." 
 
 Is there an American who can read these 
 accounts who does not feel indebted to the 
 man who, solely by his own perseverance and 
 skill, has added lustre to his country's renown 
 in the peaceful walks of life? If the same man, 
 as a "warrior in hostile array," had raised the 
 same flag in triumph on the same soil, how 
 would his countrymen have rewarded him? 
 Doubtless by a "vote of thanks by both Houses 
 of Congress," together with a sword and gold 
 medal, if not a monument in addition! 
 
 178
 
 Should not those be equally honored and 
 rewarded by the Country, who are engaged in 
 the arts and in agriculture; who devote their 
 energies to add to the comfort and happiness 
 of their fellow man, as those engaged in shed- 
 ding blood, making widows and orphans to 
 mourn for their untimely bereavement, and 
 who literally for hire, not patriotism, and with 
 the spirit demons, seek to slay and destroy? 
 
 We fully believe so; for fame and renown 
 in arms are rarely or never acquired, except by 
 entailing misery and distress on our fellow 
 beings, and engendering the worst feelings and 
 passions of our nature. 
 
 But we hope for the advent of better days ; 
 when, if the political sword is not literally 
 beaten into a plough-share, and the partisan 
 spear turned into a pruning hook, the inventive 
 genius and talent of our countrymen shall be 
 more aided and better rewarded by Govern- 
 ment, in its praiseworthy efforts "for the diffu- 
 sion of knowledge among men," in all that 
 really ennobles the mind, and benefits the 
 whole human family. Such, at least, is the 
 earnest wish and desire of 
 
 A FARMER AND MECHANIC. 
 
 179
 
 HUSSEY'S REAPING AND MOW- 
 ING MACHINE IN ENGLAND 
 
 "In presenting the following pages for con- 
 sideration of the farmers of the country, the 
 subscriber has confined himself strictly to mat- 
 ters selected from English papers, which will 
 speak for itself. As a short explanation from 
 me will be looked for, I will merely state that 
 at the trial in presence of the Exhibition Jury, 
 An Unfair Mr. McCormick's machine was operated by an 
 Dls " experienced hand sent from the United States, 
 while mine was managed by English laborers 
 of the lower class, who were total strangers to 
 it, and had never seen it in operation. The trial 
 was made in unripe wheat on a rainy day. My 
 machine was very improperly adjusted for the 
 work and wrongly put together, in consequence 
 of which the ignorant raker failed to deliver 
 the sheaves, and it stopped as a matter of 
 course, and was immediately laid aside, after 
 cutting but a few feet. My machine was never 
 tried in presence of that Jury by any other 
 hands, or in any other condition, myself not 
 being in England. 
 
 "It was on such a trial that the Exhibition 
 medal was disposed of, and with what justice 
 the reader can judge by reading the following 
 pages. On my arrival in England I took my 
 
 180
 
 ? 
 
 < 
 
 2 
 & O 
 
 t E 
 > o
 
 machine into the field that it might work its 
 way into public favor as it best could. After 
 being exhibited in several places, its rising 
 fame appeared to produce some effect, as it will 
 appear by the following in the Windsor and 
 Eaton Express of November 8, 1851 : 
 
 "Alluding to the astonishing and unexpect- 
 ed performance of my Reaper, it says : 'By this 
 unlocked for turn of events, the proprietors 
 of McCormick's machine found that their su- 
 premacy was no longer undisputed, and that 
 the necessity was laid upon them to look to 
 their laurels; they therefore came boldly for- 
 ward, and threw down the gauntlet!' 
 
 "That farmers who are acquainted with my How 
 reaper may understand why it failed to per- 
 
 . , V. Received 
 
 form well in the hands of strangers at the Ex- a Mcda j 
 
 hibition trial where McCormick got the medal, 
 it will be necessary for me to say that when the 
 machine was sent from Baltimore it was set 
 to cut high. That when the inexperienced 
 hands undertook to make it cut low, they 
 pitched down the cutters by putting on the 
 tongue, not knowing any other way to lower it. 
 In doing so the hind part of the platform was 
 of course raised high. In this condition the un- 
 practiced raker failed to push the heavy wet 
 wheat off up an inclined plane ; and as a matter 
 of course the machine choaked, and for the 
 same reason that a mill will choak when the 
 
 181
 
 corn goes in faster than the meal comes out. 
 A skillful hand would have lowered the cut at 
 the axle of the machine, and brought the plat- 
 form horizontal or lowest at the rear, as it 
 should be in cutting wet grain. 
 
 "The following pages will show the result, 
 the authenticity of which, if doubted, will be 
 proved by the production of the originals in 
 my possession. O BED HUSSEY. 
 
 "Baltimore, Md., Jan. 1, 1852." 
 
 From the Hull [England] Advertiser, September 5, 1851. 
 
 "At the annual meeting on Mr. Mechi's 
 Farm at Tiptree Heath, a few weeks ago, a 
 brief report of which appeared in the Hull Ad- 
 vertiser at the time, several reaping machines 
 were tested, the result then being that one 
 manufactured and invented by Mr. McCormick, 
 of America, was the only one which was con- 
 sidered to have done its work properly. 
 Amongst those tried was one invented and 
 manufactured by Mr. O. Hussey, Baltimore, 
 Md. (U. S.) which, in the opinion of gentle- 
 men then present, did not fully accomplish the 
 object in view. It should, however, be men- 
 tioned, that while Mr. McCormick's machine 
 had on that trial the advantage of the superin- 
 tendence of persons intimately acquainted with 
 its mechanism, and who had been accustomed 
 
 188
 
 to the working of the machine for some years, 
 Mr. Hussey's invention was (in the absence 
 of the inventor) in the hands of persons entire- 
 ly unacquainted with the proper mode of work- 
 ing it. Since then Mr. Hussey himself has 
 come over to England in order to superintend 
 his machine, and the result has been that it is 
 now brought out to receive a thorough trial of 
 its merits. 
 
 "The trial of Wednesday, however, was the 
 best. It took place in a Held belonging to Mr. 
 Coskill, Grovehill Lane, Beverly. There was 
 assembled during the day a great number of 
 farmers and gentlemen interested in agricul- 
 ture, who witnessed the trial with great in- 
 terest. 
 
 "The wheat in this case was very much 
 'laid;' indeed in many places it was almost 
 flat on the ground. It therefore afforded one of 
 the best opportunities for judging of the capa- 
 bilities of the machine under disadvantageous 
 circumstances that could possibly occur. 
 
 "On the whole, the conclusion come to was 
 that the reaping was done as well by machine 
 as by hand. No one doubted for a moment 
 that it would cut corn well where it was stand- 
 ing; but some farmers thought it would not 
 equal the scythe where the corn was laid. The 
 result, however, showed the contrary, and 
 every person acknowledged that it had suc- 
 
 183
 
 ceeded admirably. After cutting a large quan- 
 tity of wheat, the machine was taken into an- 
 other field, and after a slight alteration, set to 
 work to cut clover. We understand that on 
 the day before previous to coming to Hull, it 
 had been tried on clover and cut it extremely 
 well. 
 
 Winning Its "As the machine cut along it was followed 
 Own Way closely by groups of farmers striving hard to 
 find flaws in its performance. But they could 
 not. On the contrary, in those places where 
 the corn was most 'laid,' and where, conse- 
 quently, the greatest difficulty must occur in 
 the cutting, the manner in which the reaper did 
 its work elicited their loudest approbation. 
 'Why,' said one burly old gentleman by our 
 side, 'a man with a scythe could never cut it 
 like that.' 'It is wonderful,' said another. 
 
 From the Morning Advertiser, September 12, 1851. 
 
 "On Monday last, the public trial of Hus- 
 sey's patent Reaping Machine took place with 
 the permission of his Grace, the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, on his Grace's estate of Blenheim, 
 near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, and also, on the 
 adjoining one of Mr. Southern, one of the most 
 considerable landed proprietors of the country. 
 A large assemblage of the Agriculturists of the 
 highest class attracted by the celebrity which 
 this ingenious and efficient contrivance has ac- 
 
 184
 
 quired for itself in a course of successful ex- 
 periments performed last week in Yorkshire, 
 were present to witness the trial, mostly from 
 Oxfordshire and the adjoining counties, but 
 many from a considerable distance, and all of 
 them concurred in the most ready acknowl- 
 edgments of its advantages. 
 
 "The reaping commenced at 11 o'clock in 
 the barley field, the machine being drawn by 
 two fine chestnut horses, lent by his Grace for 
 the purpose of the experiment, in which he 
 took the deepest interest, following the reaper 
 in a car, and watching with evident satisfac- 
 tion, the ease and rapidity with which the 
 blades cut down the golden produce of the field. The Duke 
 The crop was by no means one calculated to of Marl- 
 
 borough's 
 
 favor the experiment. On the contrary, some Test 
 of it was down and much laid. It was cut 
 down, however, with great regularity and 
 speed, and the general evenness of the stubble 
 was the subject of general remark. As the ma- 
 chine passed on, hewing its way at a smart 
 pace through the dense mass of stalks, the 
 crowd of eager observers rushed after it, and 
 many were the cheers with which it was wel- 
 comed. Occasionally, to satisfy the ideas of 
 the more fastidious, the level of the cutters was 
 changed, so as to leave a greater or less length 
 
 185
 
 of stubble, and it was evident to all that in this 
 respect the machine was susceptible of the 
 nicest adjustment. Some times at the end of 
 a turn it was rested to give the farmers an op- 
 portunity of inspecting it, which they seemed 
 never tired of doing, and then it was turned 
 round at right angles to cut in the cross direc- 
 tion. In the experiments upon barley, it 
 showed itself capable of reaping the enormous 
 space of fifteen acres, which we believe is from 
 eight to nine times the power of the most vig- 
 orous and skillful reaper. Afterwards the ma- 
 chine was taken into a large field of clover, 
 which it cut to within two inches of the ground, 
 and with still greater rapidity. 
 
 "His Grace repeatedly expressed his admi- 
 ration of the powers of the apparatus, and con- 
 gratulated some of the agricultural gentlemen 
 present with him on the prospects of greater 
 economy and security in harvesting which it 
 afforded them. These opinions were generally 
 entertained upon the ground, and yesterday at 
 Bishop's Startford, in Hartfordshire, the farm- 
 ers of that part of the country witnessed a sim- 
 ilar experiment, attended with results precisely 
 similar, and which gave them the same satis- 
 faction." 
 
 186
 
 The following testimonial was given by the 
 Duke of Marlborough: 
 
 "Tuesday, September 9th, 1851. 
 "Having yesterday witnessed the working 
 of the American Reaping Machine, patented by 
 Mr. Hussey, and being requested to give my 
 opinion upon its execution, I state that it per- 
 formed its work admirably, laying the corn 
 when cut very neatly for tying up, and leaving 
 the stubble very regular. 
 
 "MARLBOROUGH." 
 
 Following upon these various successes, an 
 advertisement from the proprietors of McCor- 
 mick's Machine appeared in the public papers, 
 as follows: 
 
 MR. M'CORMICK'S AMERICAN 
 REAPER 
 
 "Public Challenge to Makers and Venders 
 of Reaping Machines: We, the undersigned, 
 agents for Mr. McCormick, having observed 
 sundry advertisements and circulars complain- j|, e 
 ing of the decision of the Jurors of the Great Challenge 
 Exhibition of 1851 in favor of Mr. McCormick's 
 Reaper, and of the reports given in the public 
 journals of the trials which led to such de- 
 cision, do hereby give notice to Messrs. Wm. 
 Dray & Co., Messrs. Garrett & Son, Mr. O. 
 
 187
 
 Hussey, and all other makers and venders of 
 Reaping Machines whatsoever, that M'COR- 
 MICK'S REAPER will be tried at the Cleve- 
 land Society's Show at Marton, Middlesbrough, 
 near Stockton-on-Tees, on the 25th inst., and 
 publicly CHALLENGE them or any of them, 
 to meet us there, with their machines, for the 
 purpose of a comparative trial of the respective 
 merits of each, to be determined by the Chair- 
 man and Council of the Cleveland Society, or 
 by such Judge or Judges as the said Society 
 may appoint. BURGESS & KEY, 103 New- 
 gate Street, London." 
 
 The Challenge was immediately accepted. 
 
 MR. HUSSEY'S AMERICAN 
 REAPER 
 
 "In answer to an advertisement which ap- 
 peared in the Times of the 18th, from Messrs. 
 Burgess & Key, giving us a PUBLIC CHAL- 
 LENGE to a TRIAL of the AMERICAN 
 The REAPING MACHINES, we hereby announce 
 Acceptance ^^ we shall w ini ng i y ACCEPT the SAME, 
 
 and on the 25th inst. we shall be prepared at 
 the Cleveland Society's Show, Marton, Mid- 
 dlesborough, near Stockton-on-Tees, to prove 
 to the Agricultural World the superiority of 
 HUSSEY'S REAPER for general farming 
 purposes. We stipulate, however, that the Ma- 
 
 188
 
 As no report was made of the trial on the 
 first day, the following may be relied upon : 
 
 From the Gateshead Observer, September 27, 1851. 
 
 "It was curious to see on the soil of a Cleve- 
 land farm two implements of agriculture lying 
 side by side in rivalry, respectively marked, 
 'McCormick, inventor, Chicago, Illinois,' 'Hus- 
 sey, inventor, Baltimore, Maryland* America 
 competing with America, on English soil. 
 
 "Mr. Hussey led off. An attempt was made 
 to keep back the eager crowd ; but their curios- 
 ity was irrepressible ; they flocked in upon the 
 machine so that the experiment could not be 
 properly performed, nor could the jury duly 
 discharge their duties. P. C. Thompson did 
 his very best; he was all but everywhere at 
 once; but what avails a police force, one 
 strong, against a concourse of Yorkshire yeo- 
 manry and clowns? It was requisite that he 
 should have recruits, and a body of self -elected 
 'specials' came to his aid, who succeeded in 
 procuring approach to a clear course. Mr. 
 Hussey then took his seat anew, and his ma- 
 chine cut down a breadth of wheat from end 
 to end of the field. It seemed to us to do its 
 work neatly and well. The wheat was cleverly 
 delivered from the teeth of the reaper, and 
 handed over to the binders by the rake." 
 
 191
 
 To William Dray and Company. 
 
 "Stockton-on-Tees, September 27th, 1851. 
 
 "Sir Having been in communication with 
 you relative to the trial of your Reaper against 
 McCormick's, and feeling deeply interested in 
 the introduction of the new implement into 
 this district, particularly one of so much im- 
 portance as a Reaping Machine, I think it is not 
 probably out of place in me if I give you the 
 result of my observations during the two trials 
 which have taken place. From the fact that 
 McCormick's Machine obtained the prize at the 
 Great Exhibition (though I do not pin my 
 faith upon awards made by Agricultural and 
 other societies) the letter of Mr. Pusey's, in 
 the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, the 
 various newspaper reports, etc., etc., it was nat- 
 ural for me to be predisposed in favor of Mc- 
 Cormick's Machine; indeed Mr. M. had a 
 prestige in his favor, which of course operated 
 against the 'Little Hussey.' Previous to start- 
 ing, at Marton, on Thursday, the gentlemen 
 representing McCormick's machine expressed 
 themselves desirous of testing the machines 
 early in the morning when the dew was on, 
 believing that their machine would cut the 
 grain under such circumstances, and that yours 
 would not. Well, on Thursday we had a deluge 
 rain, the surface of the land was very soft, and 
 
 192
 
 chines shall be tested, not only on a particular 
 patch of good upstanding grain, where they 
 might, perhaps, prove equal, but on an average 
 variety of conditions, as to short and laid corn, 
 etc., such as the farmer will usually meet with. 
 Its capabilities for cutting green crops, such as 
 clover, etc., shall also be proved. It must be 
 evident to the Farming Public that the Reap- 
 ing Machine which will cut a crop of the great- 
 est variety and difference of condition must 
 possess the greatest merit. WM. DRAY & 
 CO., Agricultural Warehouse, Swan-Lane, 
 London Bridge." 
 
 Accordingly the matter was arranged, and 
 the following gentlemen were called upon to 
 act as jurors: 
 
 Henry Stephen Thompson, Esq., of Moat 
 Hall, Foreman; Mr. Wm. Lister of Dunsa 
 Bank; Mr. Jno. Booth of Killerby; Mr. John 
 Parrington, of Brancepeth; Mr. Wm. Weth- 
 erell, of Kirkbridge, Darlington; Mr. Robert 
 Hymers, of Marton; Mr. Christopher Cobson, 
 Linthorpe; Mr. Robert Fawcitt, of Ormsby; 
 Mr. Joseph Parrington, of Cross Beck; Mr. 
 John Outhwaite, of Bainesse; Mr. Geo. Reed, 
 Hutton Lowcross; Mr. Thomas Phillips, of 
 Helmsley, and Mr. Thomas Outhwaite, of 
 Bainesse. 
 
 189
 
 The following were the conditions to be 
 submitted by the representatives of the re- 
 spective machines: 
 
 The machines to be tried on wheat and 
 barley in such order, and for such lengths of 
 time, as the jurymen may direct. The jury to 
 have full power to use any means they deem 
 advisable in order to put the machines to the 
 severest trial. The jury in deciding on the 
 merits of the two machines, to take into their 
 consideration : 
 
 Conditions 1st. Which of the two cuts corn in the best 
 of the manner. 
 
 Contest 
 
 2d. Which of the two causes the least waste. 
 3d. Which of the two does the most work 
 in a given time. 
 
 4th. Which of the two leaves the corn in the 
 best order for gathering and binding. 
 
 5th. Which of the two is the best adapted 
 for the ridge and furrow. 
 
 6th. Which of the two is the least liable to 
 get out of order. 
 
 7th. Which of the two at first cost is least 
 price. 
 
 8th. Which of the two requires the least 
 amount of horse labor. 
 
 9th. Which of the two requires the least 
 amount of manual labor. 
 
 190
 
 day been fine the number of spectators present 
 yesterday (Thursday) would have been at 
 least fourfold what it was. Bad as the weather 
 was, not only was there a large muster of 
 members of the society, but 803 persons, many 
 of them from a considerable distance, paid six- 
 pence each for admission to the ground. The 
 trial of the rival machines was, unfortunately, 
 so short, and conducted under such adverse 
 circumstances, that it was impossible to pro- 
 nounce any opinion as to their relative merits; 
 but what he saw of Hussey's was as satisfac- 
 tory as he could expect. (Applause.) 
 
 "Mr. George Reade, of Hutton Lowcross, 
 said, had it not been for the boisterous weather, 
 the receipts of the Society at Ormesby and 
 Middlesbrough would have been marvelous. 
 As it was, there was a large assemblage to wit- 
 ness the trial of the American reaping ma- 
 chines, and they were regarded with an anxious 
 desire that they might succeed. Indeed, let 
 any ingenious mechanic he cared not whether 
 he was English, Scotch, Irish, American or 
 German come before a jury of the farmers of 
 Cleveland with an implement or machine for 
 the improvement of Agriculture, and it would 
 be judged with candor, impartiality and up- 
 rightness, and the inventor should go home sat- 
 isfied that he had experienced fair play. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 195
 
 "Mr. Isaac Wilson proposed the health of 
 'The Strangers.' To those gentlemen the mem- 
 bers were greatly indebted for their attendance. 
 Had the weather permitted, they would all 
 have experienced much pleasure from an in- 
 spection of the celebrated reaping machines in 
 action, and the ingenious draining plough of 
 Mr. Fowler, which did him very much credit. 
 (The toast was drank with musical honors.) 
 
 "Mr. Pierce, the representative of Dray & 
 Co., being called upon to respond, rose and 
 said, bad as the weather had been, he had been 
 delighted with his visit to Middlesbrough. The 
 kindness of the inhabitants soon made him no 
 stranger. He was not four and twenty hours 
 in the place before he fraternized with the 
 whole parish. (Laughter.) He rejoiced that 
 Mr. Hussey's reaping machine was now in the 
 hands of a jury of Cleveland farmers. It would 
 have a fair, honest, impartial trial; and what 
 more could an Englishman desire. (Applause.) 
 He thanked the company for the honor which 
 they had conferred upon their visitors from a 
 distance, and wished continued success to their 
 flourishing society. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Hussey's "Mr. Hussey was next called upon, and said 
 Toast to that he had for many years been building ma- 
 England c hines in America. If he had had the least idea 
 of the interest which England would take in 
 the reaping of crops by machinery, it would 
 
 196
 
 the corn very wet. Everybody there was as- 
 tonished to see your machine brought up the 
 field at a trot, cutting its way to the admira- 
 tion of all present; it not only cut to the lean- 
 ing corn, but it cut cross over the corn leaning 
 to the left of the postillion (I presume I must 
 call him). McCormick's machine then at- 
 tempted to start (he made two or three at- 
 tempts) but the attendant confessed it was im- 
 possible to do so. That there might be no mis- 
 take about it, your representatives proposed 
 that their machines should go up again; the 
 jury said 'No! we are satisfied that your ma- 
 chine can cut it under the present circum- 
 stances,' and so ended Thursday's trial." 
 
 From the Gateshead Observer, October 4. 
 
 "We left the members and friends of this 
 society, on Friday, the 26th ult, on the Show- 
 ground at Middlesbrough, immersed in rain. 
 The scene now shifts to the Townhall, where, 
 in a handsome and spacious apartment, we find 
 them assembled in the evening, to dinner, to 
 the number of 150, with the Earl of Zetland in 
 the chair, and in the vice-chair Mr. John 
 Vaughan, of the firm of Bolckow & Vaughan, 
 iron-masters and manufacturers. His lordship 
 was supported by the Rev. W. F. Wharton, of 
 Birmingham, and Messrs. J. T. Wharton, 
 Henry Pease, G. D. Trotter, Isaac Wilson, 
 
 193
 
 George Coates, J. W. Pease, George Reade, 
 John Pierson, etc.; and the vice-chair by 
 Messrs. C. Dryden, W. Fallows, R. Chilton, 
 etc. In the body of the hall were the leading 
 inhabitants of the town and neighborhood; 
 also, Mr. Burgess and Mr. Samuelson (who had 
 come to the meeting with Mr. McCormick's 
 reaping machine), Mr. Hussey, the inventor 
 of the reaper which bears his name, and Mr. 
 Pierce and Mr. Stevens (on the part of Messrs. 
 Dray & Co., agents for Mr. Hussey). 
 
 "On the removal of the cloth, the noble 
 Chairman (behind whose seat was inscribed on 
 the wall in conspicuous characters, 'Success to 
 the Cleveland Agricultural Society Eigh- 
 teenth Anniversary') gave the customary loyal 
 toasts, and took occasion to observe that had 
 it not been for the Exhibition of Industry, pro- 
 jected by Prince Albert, the 'Reaping Ma- 
 chine,' from which he anticipated great benefits 
 to agriculture, would not have been introduced 
 into this country. (Applause.) 
 
 "The Earl of Zetland again referred to the 
 reaping machine. Such an aid to agriculture, 
 his lordship observed, was needed in Cleveland 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 "Mr. J. T. Wharton, of Skelton Castle, said 
 he had never witnessed so much enthusiasm in 
 an agricultural district as was displayed in 
 connection with the reaping machine. Had the 
 
 194 
 
 \
 
 mick's machine. The other was in the hands 
 of the inventor himself, Mr. Hussey, and of 
 Mr. Pierce and Mr. Steevens (who represented 
 the agents, Messrs. Dray & Co.) 
 
 "The Rev. Mr. Wharton (the jury, compet- 
 itors, etc., having gathered round him on the 
 field, on Saturday morning) announced that 
 after the lapse of an hour, when the corn would 
 be in such a condition that Mr. Fawcitt, as he 
 had just said, would, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, reap it himself, the trial would com- 
 mence. 
 
 "The question was, now, which of the two 
 machines should begin. A 'toss* gave the 
 chance to Mr. Pierce, and he requested Mr. 
 Burgess to lead off. 
 
 "McCormick's machine then got into action, 
 taking the crop in the most favorable manner 
 that is, leaning toward the knife. Passing 
 along the field (which was from two to three 
 hundred yards in length) it cut down a breadth 
 of little more than four feet. The corn being 
 laid, the flier, of course did not come into prac- 
 tical operation; nor was it necessary that it 
 should do so the elements having already 
 done its work. The corn was well cut the 
 stubble a little too high. 
 
 "Another breadth or two having been cut, 
 Hussey's machine followed, and cut some 
 
 199
 
 breadths somewhat wider than McCormick's, 
 and closer to the ground. 
 
 "Mackenzie, when we pointed out the short- 
 er stubble of his rival, admitted the fact, but 
 said there would be no difficulty not the 
 slightest in bringing Mr. McCormick's knife 
 nearer to the ground. In America, however, 
 where the straw is comparatively of little or no 
 value, the stubble is no object, and there are 
 some advantages in cutting high. 
 
 "A backer of McCormick's machine (and 
 many bets have been laid on the two machines) 
 urged that Hussey's would spoil clover when 
 going among wheat. The reply was, that Hus- 
 sey's knife could be raised or depressed at 
 pleasure. 
 
 "The next test was cutting the crop across 
 ridge and furrow, so that the corn was lying 
 neither to nor from the knife, but sidewise. 
 Both the machines cut the corn under these cir- 
 cumstances Hussey's the cleaner of the two. 
 
 "The jury then required the experiment to 
 be made along the field, with the corn lying 
 from the knife. 
 
 "Mr. Hussey consented, and the machine 
 succeeded in cutting the corn leaving a tol- 
 erable stubble, but not so short and regular as 
 before. 
 
 200
 
 have been a difficult thing to keep him on the 
 other side of the Atlantic; and he knew not, 
 now, after the reception which he had met 
 with, how he should ever get home again. (Ap- 
 plause and laughter.) 
 
 "Mr. Steevens, Dray & Co.'s engineer, was 
 also called upon to rise, and stated that his em- 
 ployers had purchased Mr. Hussey's machine 
 because they saw it to be the best, and they 
 would meet every competitor in the three king- 
 doms, fearless of the result. (Cheers.) 
 
 "[It should be stated that Messrs. Fowler, 
 Burgess, Samuelson,* etc., had by this time 
 left the hall, and therefore could not be called 
 upon.] 
 
 "Mr. Parrington, having read the award, 
 announced that a second trial of McCormick's 
 and Hussey's reaping machines would be made, 
 if the weather were favorable, on the following 
 morning (Saturday), at 9 o'clock, at Mr. Faw- 
 citt's farm. The jury, appointed by the com- 
 mittee, would give no opinion on the trial of 
 the previous day (Thursday). That would go 
 for nothing. They would devote the whole of 
 next day, if necessary, to a full, fair, and satis- 
 factory trial of the two machines. (Applause.) 
 
 "On Saturday morning, the weather was so 
 far favorable that there was no rain. The trial, 
 
 * McCormick's agents. 
 
 197
 
 therefore, took place. There was a numerous 
 gathering of land-owners, farmers, laborers, 
 etc., but not so crowded a muster as to obstruct 
 the experiment. 
 
 "The foreman of the jury, Mr. Thompson, 
 being unavoidably absent, his place was sup- 
 plied by the Rev. W. F. Wharton, of Birming- 
 ham. Messrs. Lister, Outhwaite, (J. and T. P.) 
 Booth, Wetherell, Phillips, and Dobson, were 
 also absent. Their places were filled by Mr. 
 William Morley, Dishforth; Mr. Thomas Par- 
 rington, Marton; Mr. J. T. Wharton, Shelton 
 Castle; Mr. Wm. Hill, Staunton; Mr. Joseph 
 Coulson, Sexhow; Mr. Joseph Harrison, White 
 House; Mr. John Mason Hopper, Marton. 
 
 "The trial commenced in a level enclosure, 
 adjoining the road from Stockton and Middles- 
 brough to Ormesby Hall (the residence of Sir 
 Wm. Pennyman, Bart.). The wheat was laid. 
 We have seen a crop in worse condition, but 
 not often. The straw was damp and soft. The 
 soil was loamy and light, and the field free from 
 wet ; it was to Mr. Fawcitt's credit that he was 
 able to place such a field at the service of the 
 society under the circumstances ; still, the earth 
 was in a state to clog the wheels of the reapers. 
 Altogether, the test was a severe one for the 
 competitors. Mr. Samuelson, Mr. Burgess, and 
 Mr. D. C. Mackenzie (the son of an emigrant 
 from Ivernesse) were in charge of Mr. McCor- 
 
 198
 
 he would soon beat the inventor himself. Even 
 I, townsman as I am, made fair work; and in 
 an hour or two's practice, I would engage to 
 cut a crop in a manner not to be found fault 
 with. You may safely say that any ordinary 
 workman about a farm would be able to man- 
 age the machine; and when I say this of Hus- 
 sey's, it is also true of McCormick's. The one 
 may be a better machine than the other, but the 
 merits of either of them may be brought into 
 practical action by a laborer of average intelli- 
 gence and skill. It is the opinion of farmers 
 and others with whom I have conversed, that 
 the saving per acre, by the use of Hussey's 
 machine, would be about 5s. 
 
 "At the close of the contest on Saturday, 
 the knives of the two machines were placed in 
 the hands of Mr. Robinson, engineer to Mr. 
 Bellerby, of York, that he might report there- 
 on, and on the machinery generally, to the Jury. 
 
 "Wednesday, October 1. The Marquis of 
 Londonderry, and several other gentlemen, 
 have visited Mr. Fawcitt's farm, to see the ma- 
 chine at work. 
 
 "The laurels so recently placed upon the 
 brow of Mr. McCormick have been plucked 
 off not wholly, but in great part by his fel- 
 low countryman, Mr. Hussey. 
 
 "We would enlarge upon this theme, but 
 our report has left us little room. We would 
 
 203
 
 only say, that while the farmers of Cleveland, 
 and of the Island generally, are turning their 
 attention to agricultural improvements by 
 reaping machines, draining ploughs, and steam 
 ploughs we would say to them, in the words 
 of Mr. Hussey to the Cleveland horse-jockey, 
 when his machine was ready for its work, 
 'Now, then, go ahead!" 
 
 REPORT OF THE JURY 
 
 "The Jury regret exceedingly the most un- 
 favorable state of the weather on the days of 
 trial (a perfect hurricane raging during the 
 whole of the first day), and their consequent 
 inability to make so full and satisfactory a trial 
 as they could have wished. 
 
 "The machines were tested on a crop of 
 wheat, computed at 25 bushels per acre, very 
 short in the straw, and if possible, more laid 
 than the wheat. 
 
 "The Jury, taking the different points sub- 
 mitted to their consideration, in the order as 
 mentioned : 
 
 "1. Their unanimous opinion, that Mr. 
 Hussey's machine, as exhibited by Messrs. 
 Wm. Dray & Co., cut the corn in the best man- 
 ner, especially across ridge and furrow, and 
 when the machine was working in the direc- 
 tion of the corn laid. 
 
 904
 
 "McCormick's machine was then tried, and 
 failed. As it scoured over the corn, making 
 sad havoc, there were loud cries of 'Stop! 
 stop! you're wasting it!' 
 
 "Barley was next cut, with much the same 
 result. In this case, Mr. Hussey adjusted his 
 platform for discharging the corn at the side. 
 
 "The binders being summoned before the Hussey 
 jury, and asked which of the two machines they wins 6 to 4 
 preferred, so far as their particular department 
 was concerned, decided, 4 for McCormick's, 6 
 for Hussey's. 
 
 "Clover was now to be tried, but at this 
 stage of the proceedings we left the field. 
 Clover-cutting, we should state, formed no part 
 of the competition. The agreement merely re- 
 fers to wheat and barley. McCormick's ma- 
 chine is not intended for clover-cutting; but 
 some of the land owners and farmers were 
 anxious to see clover cut by Hussey's machine. 
 Mr. Thompson, we understand, had requested 
 his proxy to have the experiment made. We 
 were told on the ground that the machine had 
 already been tried on clover at Newport, near 
 Middlesbrough, and 'cut it well if the weather 
 had been dry it would have cut it beautifully.' 
 
 "It was pleasant to mark the anxiety and 
 
 watchfulness of the gentlemen in charge of the 
 
 two machines. Mr. McCormick suffered no 
 
 loss from his absence, he was so admirably rep- 
 
 toi
 
 resented; and in Messrs. Pierce and Steevens, 
 Dray & Co. had invaluable agents on the 
 Thursday in particular, when a storm, which 
 ravaged land and sea, could not deter them or 
 Mr. Hussey, from practically attesting the 
 reaper's prowess in the field. The trial, 
 throughout, was conducted with a fidelity to 
 self which would not throw a point away, and 
 a courtesy to rivals which should ever mark 
 honorable competition. 
 
 From a Correspondent. 
 
 "Stockton, Monday, September 29. A re- 
 port reached me, after I left the farm, that Hus- 
 sey's machine cut the barley very much better 
 than McCormick's. It came to me, however, 
 through parties who might fairly be suspected 
 of a bias, and therefore I kept my judgment in 
 suspense until I could obtain information on 
 which I could more implicitly rely. This I have 
 now got. I have been to the farm again to- 
 day, and made inquiries of persons who saw the 
 completion of the trial. McCormick's machine 
 did not cut the barley so well as Hussey's. It 
 cut it much too high ; and as the crop was very 
 much laid, the heads only, in many cases were 
 cut off. We had Hussey's machine in opera- 
 tion to-day, both on barley and wheat, and 
 made better work than on Saturday. Mr. Faw- 
 citt worked it with the greatest ease. I think
 
 "2. By a majority of eleven to one, that 
 Mr. Hussey's machine caused the least waste. 
 
 "3. Taking the breadth of the two ma- 
 chines into consideration, that of Mr. Hussey 
 did most work. 
 
 "4. That Mr. Hussey's machine leaves the 
 cut corn in the best order for gathering and 
 binding. This question was submitted to the 
 laborers employed on the occasion, and decided 
 by them, as above, by a majority of 6 to 4. 
 
 "5. Their unanimous opinion that Mr. 
 Hussey's machine is best adapted for ridge and 
 furrow. 
 
 "6. This question was referred by the Jury 
 to Mr. Robinson, foreman to Messrs. Bellerby, 
 of York, a practical mechanic of acknowledged 
 ability, whose report is appended below. 
 
 "7. That Mr. Hussey's machine at first 
 cost is less price. 
 
 "8, 9. The Jury decline to express a de- 
 cided opinion on these points in consequence 
 of the state of the weather. 
 
 "The trials took place on the farm of Robert 
 Fawcitt, of Ormsby, near Marlbro'-on-Tees, 
 who in the most liberal and disinterested spirit 
 allowed his crops to be trodden down and dam- 
 aged to a very great extent, especially on the 
 25th, when in spite of the storm an immense 
 crowd assembled to witness the trials. 
 
 205
 
 "The Jury cannot conclude their report 
 without expressing the great pleasure they 
 have derived from seeing two machines 
 brought into competition that were able to do 
 such very good work, and also at witnessing 
 the friendly, straightforward, and honorable 
 way in which the exhibitors of the respective 
 machines met on this occasion. 
 
 "Signed on behalf of the Jury, 
 
 "W. F. WHARTON, Foreman." 
 
 MR. ROBINSON'S REPORT ON QUESTION 6. 
 
 "Having carefully examined both machines, 
 and given the subject due consideration, I am 
 of opinion that McCormick's Reaping Machine, 
 as at present made, is most liable to get out of 
 order. 
 
 "(Signed) THOMAS ROBINSON. 
 
 "York, 30th September, 1851." 
 
 From the London Mercantile Journal. 
 
 "The Great Exhibition and Transatlantic 
 Superiority Over European Ingenuity 
 American Reaping Machines. The close of 
 the Crystal Palace has given rise to many pane- 
 gyrics, and we would not for one moment de- 
 tract from its merits ; it has been deservedly the 
 admiration of the world, and visited by thou- 
 sands of its inhabitants. Brought into life by 
 
 206
 
 the most eminent men, and supported by roy- 
 alty; the means taken were such as no private 
 individual could have accomplished; every ex- 
 ertion was used to obtain the choicest relics 
 that the earth could produce; almost every 
 country vied in exhibiting the arts and treas- 
 ures of its products and manufactures, and 
 were with one exception considered eminently 
 successful. The United States of America, 
 however, was thought to be deficient, and in 
 one or two cases some rather strong and even 
 coarse remarks were indulged in. But what 
 are the results? France can boast of the rich- 
 ness of its silks and artificial manufactures, 
 and England of its machinery ; but we find that 
 our own newspapers are filled with admiration 
 at the inventions of Brother Jonathan. We 
 shall only slightly touch upon the sensation 
 produced by the splendid performance of the 
 American yacht, and the dexterity displayed in 
 the lock-picking, which was previously deemed 
 impracticable. But it may be said that these 
 are trifling matters in a national point of view; 
 still, facts have been elicited by these apparent 
 trifling incidents, for we find that the superior 
 build of the little American yacht involves a 
 principle it being now admitted that in nauti- 
 cal matters the Americans are equal, if not 
 superior, to other nations in their construction 
 of their merchant vessels, and also in the equip- 
 
 207
 
 ment of their ships of war. On the land they 
 are equally successful; their reaping machines 
 have astonished our agriculturists. We ex- 
 tract from the Gateshead Observer, and other 
 local papers, the surprising performance of 
 Hussey's and McCormick's machines. Our 
 readers are aware that there are two rival 
 parties competing their powers on British 
 ground, and without entering into the question 
 as to which of the two performed their work in 
 the best manner, we copy the result of the trial. 
 The Durham Advertiser states that the per- 
 formance took place at Middlesbro', and says: 
 " 'Few subjects have created a greater sen- 
 sation in the agricultural world than the recent 
 introduction into the country of the reaping 
 machines of Mr. McCormick, and the subse- 
 quent appearance, of a rival, of no inferior de- 
 scription, in a similar implement from Mr. Hus- 
 sey. The interesting trial of the two in compe- 
 tition, intended to have taken place on Thurs- 
 day last, was postponed, in consequence of the 
 torrents of rain, until Saturday, when, under 
 the superintendence of a very efficient jury 
 empanelled to decide the respective merits of 
 the two implements, the contest came off. The 
 compact form of Hussey's implement was in 
 its favor, though from the notoriety of McCor- 
 mick's at Mr. Mechi's farm, the general prefer- 
 ence was at first on his side. McCormick's ma- 
 ws
 
 chine was first tried against the inclination of 
 the corn, and completed its portion in very 
 good style, leaving the sheaves in a handy man- 
 ner at the side of the furrow. Hussey's com- 
 pleted a similar breadth, but deposited the 
 sheaves behind, and consequently several bind- 
 ers were required to follow the machine to clear 
 the course for cutting the next breadth, an im- 
 perfection, which, however, it was understood 
 could be easily remedied, and the back deliver 
 replaced by a side one. This breadth was closer 
 cut than the one executed by McCormick's 
 reaper. The two were then tried across the 
 ridge, where Hussey's implement carried the 
 palm, McCormick's leaving a very considerable 
 portion of the straw standing behind it; and 
 the last trial upon the wheat, in the direction 
 of the lean of the wheat, Hussey's machine did 
 its work very fairly, while McCormick's was 
 obliged to be stopped in its course, after having 
 taken the heads of the wheat, but left the whole 
 of the straw standing. At this time two 
 opinions did not exist among the company pres- 
 ent Hussey's being the favorite. The trial was 
 then carried to some barley, where Hussey's 
 again succeeded in obtaining public favor. The 
 more compact form of Hussey's implement, as 
 well as the superiority of the clipping action 
 over the cutting action of McCormick's, entitle 
 it to a greater share of public favor, and as the 
 
 209
 
 advantages of a side delivery can be easily 
 applied to it, it will doubtless become the more 
 general in use amongst the farmers. We can- 
 not, however, but think that some mechanical 
 process might be substituted for raking the 
 sheaf from the receiving board, and this with 
 a few other mechanical improvements, would 
 we think, make Hussey's reaping machine a 
 perfect, useful and economical agricultural im- 
 plement. The latter may be also advantageous- 
 ly applied to the cutting of clover crops, which 
 is quite out of the question with the farmer. 
 Another Correspondent on this subject says: 
 19 Oat of 20 "The jury did not on Saturday announce their 
 Favored decision, nor have they yet made a report. 
 iey Nineteen farmers out of twenty who witnessed 
 the trial were in favor of Hussey's machine." 
 "The Gateshead Observer remarks: 'The 
 great Cleveland contest between the two Amer- 
 ican reaping machines, respectively invented by 
 Mr. McCormick, of Chicago, and Mr. Hussey, 
 of Baltimore, originally appointed for Thurs- 
 day, the 25th ult., frustrated, for a time by the 
 deluge and hurricane of that disastrous day, 
 came off on Saturday, the 27th. The trial was 
 one of great severity, the crops of wheat and 
 barley were laid, and the straw damp and soft. 
 The laurels so recently placed upon the brow 
 of Mr. McCormick have been plucked off not 
 wholly, but in great part, by his fellow coun- 
 
 210
 
 tryman, Mr. Hussey. Both the machines 
 proved their ability to do good work, but Mr. 
 Hussey's attested its superiority ; and the Eng- 
 lish farmer has now seen, thanks to Prince 
 Albert and the Exhibition of Works of Indus- 
 try, that his corn and grasses, hitherto slowly 
 and laboriously reaped with the sickle and the 
 scythe, may now be plained off the land, in 
 five feet breadth, as rapidly as a horse can 
 trot.' " 
 
 " 'A trial has taken place before the Cleve- 
 land Agricultural Society of the respective 
 merits of McCormick's and Hussey's American 
 Reaping Machines, and the report of the jury 
 of practical men, appointed by the consent of 
 both parties to decide the question of merit is 
 favorable to the latter implement. This deci- 
 sion throws considerable doubt upon the jus- A 
 tice of the award of a great medal at the exhi- 
 
 able Doubt 
 
 bition to McCormick's/ London Times, Oc- 
 tober 7." 
 
 Following upon its success at Cleveland, the 
 proprietors were invited to exhibit the machine 
 at the Barnard Castle Agricultural Society, 
 Lord Harry Vane, president. 
 
 "Barnard Castle, October 8, 1851. 
 "The undersigned President, Vice Presi- 
 dents, and members of the Barnard Castle Ag- 
 ricultural Society and others who have wit- 
 si 1
 
 nessed the working of the American Reaping 
 Machine, invented by Mr. Hussey, do certify 
 their unqualified approval of its operations 
 and entire success. 
 
 "Lord Harry Vane, President. 
 
 " W. F. Wharton, Vice President. 
 
 "John Mitchell, V. P., Forcett Hall, York- 
 shire, Esq. 
 
 "J. S. Edgar, M. D., Barnard Castle, Esq. 
 
 "John Dickonson Holmes, Barnard Castle, 
 Solicitor. 
 
 "George P. Harrison, Forcett, Yorkshire, 
 Esq., Farmer. 
 
 "Edward Scaith, Keverston, near Darling- 
 ton, Esq., Farmer, and Assistant Draining 
 Commissioner. 
 
 "Thomas Robinson, Hutton Hall, near 
 Richmond, Yorkshire, Esq., Farmer. 
 
 "Richard Kay, Forcett Valley, near Dar- 
 lington, Esq., Farmer. 
 
 "William Harrison, Greta Bridge, York- 
 shire, Esq., Farmer. 
 
 "Thomas Carter, Scales, near Richmond, 
 Esq., Farmer. 
 
 "Jno Whitfield, London, Esq. 
 
 "Rev. Thomas Boys Croome, Scotland. 
 
 "William Watson, Jr., Barnard Castle, So- 
 licitor. 
 
 "J. R. Monkhouse, Barnard Castle, Manu- 
 facturer. 
 
 212
 
 "Samuel Nelson, of Scaife House, near 
 Staindrop, Durham, Esq., Farmer. 
 
 "William Thompson, Lanehead, near Ov- 
 ington, Yorkshire, Esq., Farmer. 
 
 "John Ethwaite, Bainesse, near Catterick, 
 Yorkshire, Farmer. 
 
 "Rev. George Dugard, Barnard Castle, In- 
 cumbent of Yorkshire, Farmer. 
 
 "William Watson, Secretary of the Barnard 
 Agricultural Association." 
 
 From the Darlington and Stockton [England] Times, October 11. 
 
 BARNARD CASTLE AGRICULTURAL 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 MR. HUSSEY'S REAPING MACHINE. 
 
 "Great interest was excited in Barnardcas- 
 tle and its neighborhood on Tuesday last, by 
 the announcement that Mr. Hussey's reaping 
 machine would be exhibited at the forthcom- 
 ing meeting of the Barnardcastle Agricultural 
 Society ; and that a trial of its powers would be 
 made previous to the meeting. Accordingly, 
 on Tuesday last, the machine was brought into 
 operation in a field of barley, belonging to Mr. 
 George White, of Stainton, near Barnardcastle, 
 which it cut admirably well. The Rev. W. F. 
 Wharton, and other gentlemen in the vicinity, 
 besides a vast number of farmers, were present. 
 The Judges on the occasion were H. S. Thomp- 
 son, Esq., of Moat Hall (one of the Agricul- 
 
 213
 
 tural Jury of the Great Exhibition) ; W. Lister, 
 Esq., of Dunsa Bank; and T. Robinson, Esq., 
 of Hutton. Luncheon was provided for a large 
 party in an out-building near the scene of the 
 experiments, and it is a fact worthy of notice 
 that after dinner Mr. Thompson proposed the 
 health of Mr. Hussey (who was present) with 
 great fervour, and spoke of the disadvantages 
 under which Mr. Hussey's Machine had la- 
 bored when tried against McCormick's for the 
 Great Exhibition Medal ; Mr. Hussey not being 
 in the country at that time, and no one being 
 present who understood the adjusting or work- 
 ing of the implement. Mr. Thompson said he 
 was now so thoroughly satisfied of its great 
 merits that he would do his best to get a medal 
 awarded to it. After luncheon, the machine 
 was taken to the grounds of Mr. Adamson, and 
 tried upon a field of oats, which were so laid as 
 to form a very severe test to the machine, but 
 it nevertheless was successful there also. The 
 party retired greatly pleased with it, and some 
 of the most wary agriculturists ordered ma- 
 chines upon the ground. On Wednesday morn- 
 ing a large assemblage of agriculturists met 
 on the farm of Mr. F. Atkinson, Westwood, 
 Startforth, to see the machine cut a field of 
 wheat, and there again the experiment yielded 
 all that even its inventor could desire. We 
 understand that a large number of orders were 
 
 214
 
 given for machines by the farmers present, 
 which is perhaps the very best test of their 
 views in the matter. The general impression 
 seemed to be that it would prove of incalcula- 
 ble value to the agricultural interest. 
 
 "At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a large 
 party sat down to a sumptuous dinner at the 
 King's Head Inn. Lord Harry Vane presided 
 and the Rev. W. F. Wharton occupied the vice- 
 chair. After dinner the usual loyal toasts hav- 
 ing been proposed, the vice-chair proposed the 
 
 A Toast to 
 
 health of Mr. Hussey ; that gentleman, he said, Mr Hussey 
 had contributed to their gratification and in- 
 terest in bringing his invention there for trial; 
 the result of that trial had exceeded every- 
 thing they could have previously imagined or 
 hoped; and therefore he begged they would 
 excuse him for proposing this health so early, 
 as Mr. Hussey and his agents's representative, 
 Mr. Pierce, had to leave by the first train from 
 Darlington, which they had then but sufficient 
 time to reach. He proposed the healths of Mr. 
 Hussey and of the enterprising firm, Messrs. 
 Dray & Co., who had undertaken to bring that 
 machine into the British market. The toast 
 was drank with honors. Mr. Hussey briefly 
 returned thanks. 
 
 "After some further proceedings, the Vice- 
 Chairman proposed the health of the President. 
 Lord Harry Vane responded. 
 
 in
 
 "The healths of the Vice-Presidents were 
 proposed. Mr. Mitchell briefly responded. Mr. 
 Wharton, in acknowledging the toast, took the 
 opportunity of again bringing before the meet- 
 ing the merits of the invention which had been 
 the object of that day's attraction. It had been 
 most unfortunate that when the trial took 
 place for the prize of the great exhibition, Mr. 
 Hussey had not arrived in this country no- 
 body knew how it was managed, whilst Mc- 
 Cormick's was properly attended to. Mr. Hus- 
 sey's machine did no work, and Mr. McCor- 
 mick took the medal. No sooner did Mr. Hus- 
 sey arrive than he prayed for a further trial, 
 but the Jury could not grant it. All difficulty 
 was removed by Mr. McCormick throwing 
 down the gauntlet. The trial came off in 
 Cleveland the result was clear and satisfac- 
 tory in favor of Mr. Hussey's machine as de- 
 cidedly superior. Mr. Thompson, of Moat 
 Hall, one of the Great Exhibition Jury, was 
 "A Worthy, a ^ so one ^ ^ e Judges in Cleveland, and was 
 Modest and so satisfied on the subject that he left, deter- 
 
 mined t0 UrgC f r a mCdal f r Mn HuSSeV ' Jt 
 
 must be a source of pleasure to all to find that 
 justice was thus about to be done to a worthy, 
 modest and unassuming man." 
 
 216
 
 From the Darlington and Stockton Times, October 11, 1851. 
 
 THE REAPING MACHINES AT BARNARD- 
 CASTLE. 
 
 "To the Editor of the Darlington and Stock- 
 ton Times: 
 
 "Sir I beg to trouble you with a few par- 
 ticulars of Mr. Hussey's American Reaping 
 Machine, which I yesterday saw working in a 
 field near Barnardcastle. I am not a farmer, 
 and of course cannot be thoroughly au fait at 
 describing an agricultural implement, nor am 
 I sufficiently versed in mechanics to explain to 
 you the construction of the machine in all its 
 details, but of the result I can speak, and that 
 with confidence. 
 
 "Drawn by two horses, a man seated on the 
 near side horse as driver, this wonderful im- 
 plement was drawn with perfect ease, at more 
 than the rate of three miles an hour, round and 
 round a field, partly in wheat and partly in 
 barley, cutting a breadth of corn in its progress 
 with a regularity and evenness that was sur- 
 prising. No straggling stalks of corn were left, 
 none of the slovenly irregular work too often 
 seen where manual labor is employed was to 
 be discovered; on the contrary, the field after 
 shearing, looked nearly as smooth and even as 
 a kitchen floor or turnpike road. The farmer 
 has now no longer occasion to be behind the 
 
 917
 
 reapers, dinning in their ears, 'shear low' 'now 
 do shear low;' for this machine, with a very 
 simple adjustment, will cut the corn as low as 
 he can possibly require. A seat on the ma- 
 chine is provided for a man, who, with a large 
 rake, and with motion resembling the pushing 
 of a punt, removes the corn from the machine 
 as it is cut, and leaves it for the binders to put 
 together in sheafs. 
 
 "The assistance of two men and two horses 
 are thus all that is required to draw and to 
 guide this wonderful sickle and so manned, 
 it will cut with the ease and regularity I have 
 described, from perhaps ten to twelve acres in 
 the working day. Nor as far as I could see, or 
 learn from the observation of others, does there 
 appear to be any drawback against its general 
 adoption. Its price (21) is not exorbitant 
 its construction is not so complex as to cause 
 a fear of frequent repairs being required; men 
 of the common run of agricultural laborers are 
 quite competent to go with it, and the work of 
 drawing it is not distressing to the horses. 
 Neither does the nature of the ground appear 
 to be much an object, for it traveled as well 
 over ridge and furrow as it did upon a level. 
 
 "Nothing could be more unanimous than 
 the approval of which the machine met with 
 from all who saw its work, and I was informed 
 that nine machines were ordered on the 
 
 m
 
 ground. Among the purchasers was the Duke 
 of Cleveland, who, with Lord Harry Vane, was 
 present and examined its working and con- 
 struction minutely. The curiosity excited by 
 the machine was great, and an immense num- 
 ber of people visited the ground during the two 
 days. Noblemen and gentlemen, farmers and 
 farm laborers, tradesmen and mechanics, men 
 and women, flocked to see the implement which 
 from the other side of the Atlantic has come to 
 effect so important a revolution in the labor of 
 the harvest field, and all were agreed that 
 Brother Jonathan, though still a young man, 
 had some clever notions in his head, and that 
 John Bull, in the case of the reaping machine, 
 would not be above taking advantage of his in- 
 telligence. I am, etc., <<A fi 
 
 From the London Daily News. 
 
 HUSSEY'S REAPING MACHINE TRIAL 
 BEFORE PRINCE ALBERT. 
 
 "The celebrated battle of the Ganges hardly 
 excited more interest in the railway world than 
 the battle of the Reaping machines has lately 
 created in the agricultural world; nor is the 
 result perhaps very much less important in the 
 latter case than in the former. 
 
 "Of the recent inventions for diminishing 
 the cost of production, the most remarkable are 
 
 919
 
 undoubtedly the Reaping machines of Messrs. 
 Hussey and McCormick. Perhaps it would be 
 more accurate to call them importations than 
 inventions, since both have been in use for a 
 considerable time in America ; and amongst the 
 benefits arising from the Exhibition, it is cer- 
 tainly not the least that it has introduced to the 
 agriculturist of Great Britain implements of 
 the highest practical utility, which might other- 
 wise have remained forever exclusively in the 
 hands of their brethren across the Atlantic. It 
 will be remembered that a trial of the two rival 
 machines took place last summer, at Mr. 
 Mechi's model farm in Essex, having been 
 directed by the royal commissioners, with the 
 view of determining the comparative merits of 
 the two instruments, whose patentees were 
 competitors for the forthcoming medal prizes. 
 At that time Mr. Hussey, the American in- 
 ventor of the machine called after his name, had 
 not arrived in the country. The weather, too, 
 was very unpropitious for the trial, notwith- 
 standing which a very large number of gentle- 
 men were present. The machines were tried 
 upon a field of wheat, and the result was such 
 as to convince all present of the superiority, in 
 every point of view, of McCormick's machine 
 a conviction which was subsequently con- 
 firmed by the fact of the Exhibition medal 
 being awarded exclusively to the patentee of 
 
 220
 
 1 
 
 t
 
 that machine. The tables, however, were soon 
 to be turned. Mr. Hussey arrived in England; 
 a challenge having been given by the agents of 
 Mr. McCormick, it was accepted by Mr. Hus- 
 sey, and his English agent, Mr. Dray; and, 
 after a fair contest before the Cleveland So- 
 ciety, at Middlesbro', near Stockton-on-Tees, 
 on the 25th and 27th of September, a jury of 
 twelve agriculturists pronounced a verdict in 
 favor of the unmedalled machine. They de- 
 cided that of the two machines, Hussey's had Hussey's 
 
 the preponderance of advantages that it cut b . y ^f r 
 
 11 111 ^" e Best 
 
 corn m the best manner, caused the least waste, 
 
 did the most work in a given time, left the cut 
 corn in the best order for gathering and bind- 
 ing, was the best adapted for ridge and furrow, 
 was the least liable to get out of repair, and 
 was the least price at first cost. On the two 
 other points submitted to them, namely, which 
 machine required the least amount of horse 
 labor, and which the least amount of manual 
 labor, the jury declined to express a decided 
 opinion, in consequence of the state of the 
 weather." 
 
 "There have been many other trials of Hus- 
 sey's machine in different parts of the country, 
 and the result has been so far uniformly satis- 
 factory. Amongst these we have now to men- 
 tion a very interesting one which took place by 
 appointment last Saturday, at Windsor, in the 
 921
 
 presence of his Royal Highness, Prince Albert, 
 originating in a correspondence between Gen- 
 eral Wemyss, on behalf of the Prince, and 
 Messrs. Dray & Co. of Swan-lane, the agents 
 for Mr. Hussey. The spot selected for the 
 trial was behind the statue of George III, at 
 the end of the Long Walk, fern of which there 
 is an abundance in that locality being the 
 article on which the machine had to operate. 
 The Prince having from an early hour in the 
 morning been engaged in shooting in the vicin- 
 ity of the statue, at half-past twelve, resigned 
 his gun, and proceeded on horseback, in com- 
 pany with General Wemyss and Col. Seymour, 
 Arrival of to the spot appointed for the trial of the ma- 
 the Prince chine. Dismounting from his horse, his Royal 
 Highness saluted briefly and gracefully the as- 
 sembled company, and especially Mr. Hussey 
 and Mr. Dray. He then asked a few general 
 questions respecting the history of the ma- 
 chine, and observed that as the ground selected 
 was very uneven (it was in fact remarkably so) 
 the trial would be a good one. After a brief 
 delay, the gear being declared in order, on 
 went the machine, drawn by two strong horses, 
 and heedless of ruts and hillocks in its course, 
 which was very rapid, bringing down every 
 thing it encountered cleanly and completely, 
 including two or three slices of turf at least a 
 foot long, and more than an inch thick. 
 
 222
 
 "The performances of the machine were 
 not confined to one single course. A consid- 
 erable amount of work was performed in the 
 most satisfactory manner, Mr. Hussey himself 
 sitting on the box at the side, and throwing 
 aside what was cut down in the manner best 
 adapted for gathering and binding. Indeed the 
 work was not confined to the fern; a rabbit 
 which was not accustomed to this species of in- 
 terference was startled and cruelly lacerated 
 before it had time to escape. 
 
 "At the close of the trial, his Royal Highness A R y al 
 gave a practical proof of his favorable opinion Order 
 by ordering two of the machines for himself, 
 one for Windsor and the other for Osborne. 
 He then, after expressing his gratification, rode 
 back to the game-keepers and resumed his gun. 
 After he had left, the machine operated well 
 upon some rushes. 
 
 "It may not be out of place to state here 
 that Mr. Dray's explanation of the failure of 
 the Hussey machine at Tiptree Hall (Mr. 
 Mechi's farm) is that it was entirely owing to 
 its not being properly managed. On that occa- 
 sion, he says, the person in charge of it was 
 simply a porter at the Exhibition, who, not 
 understanding the matter, neglected to clear 
 away the wheat as it was cut down, in conse- 
 quence of which the action of the machine was 
 unavoidably and fatally impeded. We wit- 
 
 223
 
 nessed the result at Mr. Mechi's, and certainly 
 there was no such fault on Saturday. The pro- 
 gress of the machine was notwithstanding the 
 unevenness of the ground, rapid and satisfac- 
 tory ; and it was stated as a fact that on a level 
 ground the horses used in drawing may trot, 
 not only without weakening or impeding the 
 action of the knives, but even with advantages, 
 as by that means the cutting requires increased 
 precision and force." 
 
 The following is Prince Albert's certificate : 
 
 "Windsor Castle, Nov. 13, 1851. 
 
 "Sir In answer to your letter addressed to 
 
 Gen. Wemyss, I have received the commands 
 
 of his Royal Highness, Prince Albert, to say, 
 
 that so far as he could judge of Mr. Hussey's 
 
 A Royal Reaping Machine, from its performance in the 
 
 Verdict high fern at Windsor Park, his Royal Highness 
 
 is disposed to form a very favorable opinion of 
 
 it, and has ordered one* in consequence for the 
 
 use of his own farm. His Royal Highness can 
 
 however give no opinion as to the relative 
 
 merits of this machine in comparison with 
 
 those of others which he has not seen at work. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient 
 
 servant, "GREY." 
 
 * The Prince ordered two Machines, one for Windsor and 
 one for Isle of Wight. 
 
 224
 
 From Maidstone & South Eastern Gazette, October 21, 1851. 
 
 WEST KENT AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S 
 PLOUGHING MATCH. 
 
 HUSSEY'S AMERICAN REAPER. 
 
 "A distinguishing feature at this society's 
 meeting on Thursday, the 16th inst., was an 
 exhibition of the capabilities of the above ma- 
 chine. The session of the year of course pre- 
 vented a display of its powers on anything in 
 the shape of grain, indeed great difficulty was 
 found in procuring even a green crop on which 
 to operate. Undaunted by this fact, the in- 
 ventor was determined to show to the anxious 
 hundreds assembled the extent of the ad- 
 vantages to be derived from the use of his 
 reaper. At two o'clock the machine was set to 
 work upon a field of clover, short and light (as 
 may be supposed), where its performance was 
 effectual as it possibly could be, exciting a con- 
 siderable amount of surprise as well as gratifi- 
 cation. It was then taken to a piece of marsh 
 land, where clumps of stout rushes in many 
 places were growing in thick masses, present- 
 ing the appearance of stunted grain. The ma- 
 chine passed over this marsh, cutting the rushes 
 with the same facility as if it had been corn, 
 leaving the stubble about four inches long and 
 very regular, giving also a good representation 
 of the manner in which the sheaves of wheat, 
 
 225
 
 etc., are usually delivered. Both these opera- 
 tions, but especially the latter, were considered 
 severe contests of the capabilities of the ma- 
 chine. Taking all the circumstances into con- 
 sideration, the performance was far beyond all 
 reasonable expectations. It was a question 
 whether the excellent work of the 58 competing 
 ploughs, or the extraordinary novelty of Hus- 
 sey's machine in operation, added most to the 
 gratification of the large assemblage of the 
 leading agriculturists of Kent." 
 
 From the Kentish Gazette, November 11, 1851. 
 
 "In addition to the interest naturally felt by 
 all who live on and by the soil in its proper 
 cultivation, there was an unusual degree of at- 
 traction in the fact that a reaping machine by 
 Mr. Hussey (the celebrated American Machin- 
 ist) would be tested upon seven acres of mus- 
 tard adjoining the ploughing field. The reap- 
 ing was commenced about twelve o'clock, and 
 continued for a considerable period. The crop 
 of mustard was wet, and by no means calculat- 
 ed to favor the experiment. It was, however, 
 after the machine was properly arranged, cut 
 down with great regularity; and at a speed 
 equal to four miles an hour it traversed the cir- 
 cuit of the field, hewing its way through the 
 mustard, quickly followed by a crowd of eager 
 
 226
 
 observers, whose wondering gaze exhibited at 
 once their astonishment and admiration of its 
 working. Occasionally the level of the cutters 
 were altered, so as to leave a greater or less 
 length of stubble, which evinced the accurate 
 adjustment to which the machine could be 
 brought. Some portion of it was taken to 
 pieces, and the whole of the arrangements 
 shown, which the farmers present displayed an 
 eager anxiety to investigate, and many were 
 the questions proposed, and satisfactorily an- 
 swered by the talented inventor. 
 
 "We should mention that the undulation of 
 the land does not impede its operations in the 
 least as it was well observed by a gentleman 
 present, that where a cart could travel there 
 this machine could also go, and complete its 
 design. No previous acquaintance with its 
 principle is necessary to be able to guide its 
 operation, as was shown by Mr. Neame, Jr., 
 who mounted the platform and discharged the 
 functions appertaining to the party who re- 
 moves the corn from the machine after it is 
 cut, with the greatest ease and precision. In- 
 deed the most unqualified approval was given 
 by the gentlemen present, to the applicability 
 of the reaping machine to the purposes for 
 which it is designed. We have thus entered 
 into minute particulars, because this is the first 
 
 227
 
 opportunity we have had of witnessing the 
 results of such an experiment, attended as it 
 was with every degree of satisfaction. Lord 
 Sondes gave an order for one of the machines, 
 and we understand that three or four orders 
 were given in the course of the day. 
 
 "At the dinner which followed, the chair- 
 man gave 'Sir John Tyldon and the visitors.' 
 
 "Sir John Tylden, as a member as well as 
 a visitor, replied to the toast, and in a jocular 
 strain animadverted on the suffering of the 
 farmers of Faversham, who were determined, 
 like a celebrated regiment in the service, to 'die 
 hard.' He alluded to the reaping machine of 
 Mr. Hussey, which he characterized in contra- 
 distinction to that of Mr. McCormick's and all 
 others, as the universal reaping machine, of 
 which he spoke in highly approving terms, and 
 passed a warm eulogium on its talented in- 
 ventor, and the country he represented, which 
 in the space of 80 years had risen from a wilder- 
 ness to her now exalted position, and proud of 
 her Anglo-Saxon blood."
 
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 Series 9482