"Barley was next cut, with much the same result. In this case, Mr. Hussey adjusted his platform for discharging the corn at the side.
Hussey Wins 6 to 4
"The binders being summoned before the jury, and asked which of the two machines they 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 refers to wheat and barley. McCormick's machine 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 represented; 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 report reached me, after I left the farm, that Hussey'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 today, 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 operation to-day, both on barley and wheat, and made better work than on Saturday. Mr. Fawcitt worked it with the greatest ease. I think 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 manage the machine; and when I say this of Hussey'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 intelligence 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 thereon, 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 machine 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 fellow countryman, Mr. Hussey.