"Springfield, Ill.,
"Dec. 25, 1850.
"Mr. Obed Hussey, Baltimore, Md.:
"Dear Sir:—I have used one of your Mowing 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 believe if I had had one ten years ago I would now feel like a much younger man; and cheerfully recommend them to all who have grass 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, Ill."
"Utica, Lasal Co., Ill.,
"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 portion of which was wild prairie, very frequently running against stones and ant heaps with sufficient 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 repairs.
"Respectfully yours,
JAMES CLARK."