MECHANICAL & COMMERCIAL. wound every time. Some of the machines are Machinery. FRIEND HOYT:-I want to say to "L. J.," in the August No. of the FARMER, that I endorse his sentiments with regard to machinery. But, as he is a little out of the way in regard to some things, I hope he will not be offended He says there are but if I say a few words. three different kinds of stitches made by the sewing machine. His double lock stitch is nothing but a double loop stitch, the single loop is made with one thread, and double loop with two threads. The double and single loops are both called chain stitches. Besides these two, there are four others, to-wit: shuttle, or lock, and double lock, knot, and double knot, stitches. The loop stitch or single threaded machines range in price from $10 to $16, and are capable of doing all the sewing of a poor family, they are of more value to the poor than the high priced ones are to the rich. The Little Giant," sold by T. S. Page, Toledo, O., price $15.00. The "Erie," R. James, Agent, Milan, Ohio, $15.00. The "New England," price $12.00. The "United States," T. G. Egglestone, Fox Lake, Wis., Ag't, price $12.00, are all of this class. in The double loop stitch machines range price from $25 to $40, and use two threads off the spools without rewinding. The "Frank lin," $25; "Youngs," of Chicago, Ill., $25; "Moores," Lockwood, of Racine, Ag't, $30; the “Pearle,” $30, and a great many others too numerous to mention are of this class, and are very good machines, set on stands and go by treadle, while the cheaper ones are fastened to any table and are turned by the operator's right hand. Next comes the "big" machines. "Wheeler & Wilson," "Finkle & Lyon," and "Singer's," stand the highest in market at present, all about the same price, range from There $50 to $150, according to the cases. are quarter, half, and full cases, they all take the shuttle or lock stitch, (the lock stitch is not always made by a shuttle,) looks alike on both sides, and needs the under thread re ses. so arranged that they wind the thread with "L. J." says the smooth surface feed does not need basting. As regards basting, the smooth and rough surfaced feeds are all alike; some kinds of material, are the better to be basted and some sew as well without. All can be sewed without. I take it "L. J." is Agent for West & Wilson's machines and wrote that piece to advertise them, without paying for it. He wants to know what kind of reaper is the best to purchase. (Why did he not ask long enough before harvest to get an answer.) I would say that there are three reapers, to-wit: C. H. McCormick & Bro.'s," "Seymour & Morgan," and "Kirby," which take the lead at present, and are all good machines. Every machine has its friends, and it would be use less to try to convert any without they had a day's trial of each machine. I have used and seen used all named, and a great many others. My first choice would be a "McCormick," second, a "Kirby," and lastly, a "Seymour & Morgan." The "S. & M." is too heavy for one team, has a wooden "sickle or finger bar," and has more side draft than the others. The "McCormick" and "Kirby" both have iron finger beams, and both have the guards set with the points lower than the bar, which is very important in cutting grain that leans away from the machine, and in mowing. Two horses can work the two horse "McCormick" or " Kirby" very comfortably. The "Kirby" is the lightest machine, and is a most excellent one to work; but it cuts much narrower, and take it in every spot, it is not any easier for a team, from the fact that the "McC." has a ers, Grain Drills, Cultivators, Broadcast Sow- PLAINVIEW, Minn., Aug. 21, 1862. Sewing Machines. We learn there are annually manufactured in this country seventy thousand sewing machines, which task the working energies of twelve or fourteen manufacturing establishments. This latest of inventions is really one of the greatest. It would be difficult to express the advantages that have been secured to families, to sewing women and girls, and to castor wheel on the grain side, which in turn-operators with the needle generally, by the ing square corners and getting round stumps and stones, turns on its bearings and follows the machine without any difficulty, while the stationary wheel drags sideways, leaving a little ditch, and accumulating mud and straw between the wheel and machine. The "McC." finger bar is made out of the best "Sweeds" iron. The sickle is a self-sharpener, never needs grinding for reaping or mowing. The timely introduction of this wonderful little machine. It eats up the piles of prepared cloth as if its hunger would never be satiated. It cheers lonely labor, and encourages the patient plodding worker, who has been accustomed to consume the midnight oil and nurse her solitary thoughts, to believe that there is help in this wide world even for her. A load of toil and care has been lifted from many a poor, burdened heart by the introduction of the sewing machine. Heaven bless the inventor, and prosper all who depend for a livelihood upon the invention ! THE NEW IRONSIDES."-This iron-plated cuts 9, letting the horses go at the same rate of speed. But the "McC." self-raker (4 horse) | frigate, just completed in Philadelphia for the for 1862 throws everything into the shade. It is a new thing in the way of self-rake. The rake constitutes one wing of the reel, it rakes off every time the reel goes round, and leaves a very nice straight gavel; the gavel may be made larger or smaller by putting a larger or smaller pulley on the reel shaft. It works to perfection. The "Kirby" also has a self-rake, but the rake strikes into the grain after the old plan, while the other strikes square against the butt of the gavil and shoves it off. The “McC." is not a horse killer, as some assert. I would say to "L. J.," buy a "McCormick" self-raker every time; but you will not get badly cheated if you buy a "Kirby." I have not space to explain all about Threshers, Head Government, and intended as a sea-going craft EDUCATIONAL. ed lands of the United States subject to sale at private entry at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. And provided further, That not more than one million acres shall be locatdoubt-ed by such assignees in any one of the States. And provided further, That no such locations shall be made before one year from the passage of this act. The Agricultural College Act. [As the majority of our readers are less aware, the last Congress passed the Morrill bill for the endowment of Agricultural Colleges in the several States. Owing to absence in Europe, when the bill was approved no mention of the important fact has hitherto been made in the FARMER. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the expenses of management and superintendence and taxes from date of selection of said lands, previous to their sale, and all expenses incurred in the management and disbursement of the moneys which may be received therefrom, shall be paid by the States to which they be Having said much in times past as to the great importance of this measure, we have lit-long out of the treasury of the States, so that tle to add on that behalf. As to the acceptance of the grant and the propriety of taking early steps towards the realization of the benefits of the act, we shall have something to say in our next.] An Act donating Public Lands to the several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be granted to the several States, for the purpose hereinafter mentioned, an amount of public land, to be apportioned to each State, in quantity equal to 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress to which the States are respectively entitled by the apportionment under the census of 1860: Provided, That no Mineral Lands shall be selected or purchased under the provisions of this act. the entire proceeds of the sale of said lands shall be applied, without any diminution whatever, to the purposes hereinafter mentioned. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all moneys derived from the sale of lands aforesaid, by the States to which lands are appor tioned, and from the sales of land scrip hereinbefore provided for, shall be invested in stocks of the United States, or of the States, or some other safe stocks, yielding not less than five per centum upon the par value of said stocks; and that the money so invested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall remain forever undiminished, (except so far as may be provided in section fifth of this act,) and the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated, by each State which may take and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the such branches of learning as are related to land aforesaid after being surveyed, shall be Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, in such apportioned to the several States in sections or manner as the legislature of the States may subdivisions of sections not less than one quar- respectively prescribe, in order to promote the ter of a section; and whenever there are pub-liberal and practical education of the induslic lands in a State subject to sale at private trial classes in the several pursuits and proentry at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, the quantity to which said State shall be entitled, shall be selected from such lands within the limits of such State, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to issue to each of the States in which there is not the quantity of public lands subject to sale at pri-States shall be signified by legislative acts. vate entry at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, to which said State may be entitled under the provisions of this act, land scrip to the amount in acres for the deficiency of its distributive share; said scrip to be sold by said State, and the proceeds thereof applied to the uses and purposes prescribed in this act, and for no other uses or purposes whatsoever: Provided, That in no case shall any State to which land scrip may be thus issued be allowed to locate the same within the limits of any other State, or of any Territory of the United States, but their assignees may thus locate said land scrip upon any of the unappropriat fessions in life. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the grant of land and land scrip hereby authorized shall be made on the following conditions, to which, as well as to the provisions hereinbefore contained, the previous assent of the several First, If any portion of the fund invested, as provided by the foregoing section, or any portion of the interest thereon, shall, by any action or contingency, be diminished or lost, it shall be replaced by the State to which it belongs, so that the capital of the fund shall remain forever undiminished; and the annual interest shall be regularly applied without diminution to the purposes mentioned in the fourth section of this act, except that a sum, not exceeding ten per centum upon the amount received by any State under the provisions of this act, by be expended for the purchase of lands for sites or experimental farms, whenev er authorized by the respective Legislatures of said States. Second, No portion of said fund, nor the interest thereon, shall be applied, directly or indirectly, under any pretence whatever, to the purchase, erection, preservation or repair of any building or buildings. Third, Any State which may take and claim the benefit of the provisions of this act shall provide within five years, at least not less than one college, as described in the fourth section of this act, or the grant to such State shall cease; and said State shall be bound to pay the United States the amount received of lands previously sold, and the title to purchase under the State shall be valid. [From the Wisconsin Journal of Education.] America and American Schools upheld in England. [Some of our readers, who are also readers of the Wisconsin Farmer, will remember that the Editor, Dr. J. W. HOYT, in one of his letters written' from England, while there the past summer as Commissioner to the Great International Exhibition, expressed his conviction, based on frequent conversation with people of all classes, that the sentiment of that country is generally in favor of the South, in the contest now raging in our own unhappy land.This only adds to the proofs which we already possessed, that we must rely upon ourselves, under God, to work out our destiny and our Fourth, An annual report shall be made re-national salvation. garding the progress of each college, recording any improvements and experiments made, with their cost and results, and such other matters, including State industrial and economical statistics, as may be supposed useful; one copy of which shall be transmitted by mail free, by each, to all the other colleges which may be endowed under the provisions of this act, and also one copy to the Secretary of the Interior. Fifth, When lands shall be selected from those which have been raised to double the minimum price, in consequence of railroad grants, they shall be computed to the States at the maximum price, and the number of acres proportionally diminished. Sixth, No State, while in a condition of rebellion or insurrection against the Government of the United States, shall be entitled to the benefit of this act. Seventh, No State shall be entitled to the benefit of this act unless it shall express its acceptance thereof by its Legislature within two years from the date of its approval by the President. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That land scrip issued under the provisions of this act, shall not be subject to location until after the first day of January, 1863. Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the land officers shall receive the same fees for locating land scrip issued under the provisions of this act as is now allowed for the location of military bounty land warrants under existing laws: Provided, Their maximum compensation shall not be thereby increased. Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the Governors of the several States to which scrip shall be issued under this act, shall be required to report annually to Congress all sales made of such scrip until the whole shall be disposed of, the amount received for the same, and what appropriation has been made of the proceeds. There are now in Europe some 500 industrial schools and colleges of different grades, and the number is constantly increasing. But we take pleasure in transferring to our pages, a speech of Dr. Hoyt, at a celebration of the Fourth of July in London, by a large number of Americans resident or visiting in England. The speech is contained in the Report of the Celebration, published in the London American, of July 9th, and was in response to a toast of our American " Free School System." Among the many things in this country in regard to which Englishmen are generally ignorant, is our magnificent provision for Common Schools and general education; may they learn a new lesson from this timely speech, in regard to one of the causes of the past growth and prosperity of our free States, and of the delusion of the people of the Southern States in being led into this fearful rebellion.] "The next regular toast, 'Our Free School System the Republic's necessity, guide and protection,' called up Professor J. W. Hoyt, Secretary of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society and editor of the Madison Farmer, to reply. The Professor said-Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen: While I regret my inability, on the present occasion, to do justice to the great theme involved in the sentiment to which I have the honor to respond, I cannot but admire that sense of fitness whrch dictated so prominent a recognition of the noble system of free and universal education which so peculiarly and proudly distinguishes the land whose first national glory we commemorate thiis day. For, as I understand the free institutions of which we boast, and the elements of their perpetuity, they are all primarily and chiefly dependent upon the intelligence and virtue of the people. In a country whose goyernment is either purely monarchical or aristocratic-in which the people have little or nothing to do with the government, whose character and perpetuity may be quite independent of any intelligence or ignorance of theirs -it is not so imperative, in order to the judicious and beneficent administration cf public affairs and to the stability of the government, that the whole people be intelligent. But in a Republic like ours, where every man is, in the ory, an embryo statesman, actual sovereign, and possible ruler, the Government can only be wise, benefieent, and stable, in proportion as it rests upon the intelligence and virtue of the whole body of the people. tion of the vast public domain, with a wise forecast which alike challenges our admiration and gratitude, inaugurated the policy of setting apart a portion of the unoccupied lands for the equal and impartial education of every child, whether native or immigrant, that might choose to avail itself of this rich legacy. And in that portion of the United States where the theory of universal education has been approved and practically regarded as compatible with other cherished institutions, the free common school, the free academy, and even the free college, have become the all-common and most cherished institutions of the country; so that to-day there is scarcely a child in the whole North, no matter what its origin, sex, color or condition, that may not enjoy the blessings of a liberal education.This is one of the noblest of the many admirable features which so distinctively characterize the better portion of the American nation; and that we may know how high an appreciation to put upon it, we have only to contrast the history and present position of the two sections of the country where educational institutions have and where they have not been established and cherished, as essential to the well-being of society and the security of the Government. Education, then, intellectual and moral, must constitute the only sure foundation of every Republic. But there are additional and special reasons why some general plan for the education of the people should have been adopted by the American Republic. In the first place, no other nation in all history has had such a material endowment. Its territory comprises a portion of the earth abounding more than any other in all the natural sources of wealth and power, while its climate is at once the most congenial to human life, and the most productive of all that is materially essential to human happiness. It came to us, moreover, an inheritance unincumbered a gift of virgin soil and primeval forest, fresh from the hand of God, prepared as if especially for the unembarassed trial of new and better institutions than the old and fettered world would have been able to secure. All this natural wealth indicates clearly that America is destined to lead in the civilization of the world, and, hence, demands a corresponding superiority of intelligence on the part of the people. Nor is the peculiarity of our position and character, In the free Northern States it has been the as a nation and government, confined to this policy, without an exception, to provide every wonderful material endowment: the character neighborhood with the best possible educationof our people is, and, of necessity, must be pe-al facilities; and it is in those States that the culiar. With a predominance of the AngloSaxon, there is a mingling of all other races, constituting us by far the most composite people on the earth-a most remarkable mosaic of all peoples and kindreds, destined, under the influence of the attritional forces of active business and social intercourse, to be ground and cemented together into one homogeneous, and, as I think, complete ideal race. This may justly be deemed the most significant fact of American civilization. But this process of blending is not without its dangers to the Government. The multitudes of people who come to us every year from other shores, bring with them old prejudices and habits of thought, and a total ignorance, often, of the first principles of the Republic, under which they are soon to be clothed with the immunities and powers of equal citizens, and it is therefore of the most vital importance that there be some available and all-potent safeguard for the conservation of this Republic in all its original freedom and purity. To this end, nothing will answer but the liberal education of all who are destined to exert an influence-as every individual in society must-upon the character of the Government. The immense tide of ignorance and prejudice, to which I have referred, can be successfully met and controlled in no other way. Happily for our country, this great truth was well appreciated by the earlier statesmen of America, who, in providing for the disposi arts and sciences have flourished-that have originated those wonderful inventions and discoveries which have given lustre to the American name and helped the world forward in the grand march of civilization-that religion has flourished and made most progress in ridding itself of the deep prejudices and absurd dogmas which characterized its history in earlier and ruder times-that literature has established itself-and there, and there alone, that freedom of speech and of the press have been secure, and that order and loyalty have always prevailed. While in the States of the South it has been the policy to keep out the light of knowledge from the masses of the people, and to educate only the aristocratic few. And it is there that darkness, and ignorance, and stagnation have brooded over the community -that religion has been bound hand and foot, and basely subordinated to, and made supportive of, the worst of all human crimes-that those sacred institutions, free speech, a free press, and a free ballot, have ever been held in terror of violence-that loyalty has been a mere caprice and whim-there that the basest treason and rebellion the world ever saw are to-day in open and bloody defiance of the most just and equal laws and the most benign Government ever devised. But a few years since a governor of the "Old Dominion" thanked God that there were no free schools, and but few newspapers in Virginia. To-day we be |