Class IX. 1

IMPLEMENTS FOR CULTIVATION OF CLOTS; DRILLS.

229

ridges to break the furrows and prevent the turf from beingtorn up by the cross harrowing; and it is seldom that theoperation can be properly accomplished with less than sixdouble strokes or twelve liarrowings.*

Thus a harrow has to be drawn twelve times over thesame ground by a horse. If we imagine it to be drawnonce by twelve horses, we shall see at once the vast savingwhich would be effected by the Woburn drill, of aboutthe same width with the harrow, drawn by two horsesonly, yet burying at once most of the seed, and followed,as it lias been preceded, by a light harrow—a saving ofeight horses in twelve, or two horses in three. This is,however, an extreme case; but we should not be farwrong in saying that by the Woburn drill, which willcome presently under our notice, two horses in four, orone-half, might be saved to the farmer who has been inthe practice of broadcasting.

There is also a saving in seed by the use of the drill;but it is further interesting to observe how the drill dove-tails, as it were, with our last class of implements, thescarifier. When drilling was unknown, great stress waslaid upon so ploughing the land that the furrow edgewould stand up sharp at the exact angle of 45 degrees, inorder that the harrows catching those edges and crumblingthem down might properly cover the seed. No one wouldhave dreamed of sowing corn upon scarified land. Now,on the contrary, the surface may be perfectly smooth;and wheat may be drilled after turnips in winter uponland which has been only breast-ploughed, pared, that is,half an inch deep; for the seed, if drilled, is perfectlycovered, and wheat prefers a firm bed. The drill againis indispensable for the use of many new artificial ma-nures, distributing them by special coulters beneath theground, and covering them with earth, that their excessivestrength may not injure the seed, which is deposited, above,last of all. The beautiful system of horse-hoeing dependstoo, of course, entirely on the use of the drill, which maybe regarded as the key of the new system. We ought,then, to regard the whole as a system; not, using thedrill, retain ancient courses of ploughing which weremeant for the seedsman, nor, on the other hand, fall shortin the consequences of the drill—use it, that is, as somefarmers do, but with no artificial manure, and without ahorse-hoe to follow.

As to particular drills, there is the general-purposedrill, a very complete implement, capable of drilling,with or without manure, wheat, beans, and turnips at thedifferent intervals suited to those plants respectively,from 2 feet to 7. inches. It comprehends, in fact, twodrills, the parts of which are substituted for each other atpleasure; yet admirable as is the implement, one mayquestion whether, as corn seldom requires manure to besown at the same time, it be not better to buy two drillsseparate, one for corn, the other for turnips. One im-provement should be used with all drills as most conduciveto the ease of the carter. Formerly, drills went upon onepair of wheels, but after they were made to carry a largeweight of manure, it became hard work for the carter,who, in his zeal to keep the work straight, while leadingthe thill horse with a stick, steadied the shaft with theother hand, which was almost benumbed when he reachedthe end of the furrow. A fore-carriage was thereforeadded by Messrs. Garrett, which is under the command ofthe carter, who, by a lever keeps, without exertion, onewheel in the rut down which it previously passed, so thatthe rows must be perfectly parallel. This steerage is thecarter’s friend, and the horse’s friend too, as it removesa heavy load from his back. Messrs. Hornsby have sinceadopted, and perhaps improved on the principled

* Journal of Royal Agricultural Society of England .Part xxvii., p. 126.

t Report on Drills .—Nearly twenty of these implementswere selected and sent down to Pusey for trial. Messrs.Hornsby and Son had five drills: their ten-rowed corn andgeneral-purpose drill was a highly-finished and well-mademachine, with a recent improvement, patented by them, ofIndia-rubber tubes for conducting the seed down to thechannel made by the coulter, which I consider a valuableimprovement upon tire old plan of a series of cups, made oftin, working one within the other. This drill also has

The excellence of all Messrs. Hornsby’s and Garrett’sdrills is well known. The Woburn drill of Messrs.

another improvement, t>f two coulter bars, by which anequal pressure is obtained upon every coulter, and thedouble-action lever enables the manure to be deposited toany depth, and covered up previous to the seed being depo-sited. The price of this drill is 44/.

A ten-rowed corn and seed drill, peculiarly adapted todrill corn on side hills by a highly-finished and ingeniouscontrivance, of extending or contracting, by means of ascrew, two legs, similar to the governor of a steam-engine,attached to the side of the drill, and by which (the drillbeing hung by or supported on the centre) it can be regu-lated while in motion. It has also improved slides for re-gulating the quantity of seed delivered; it has the improvedIndia-rubber tubes and coulter bars, like the former drill;also a very excellent fore steerage, with a rack and pinionattached, by which it can be guided with great exactness.It did its work extremely well; and we awarded it a CouncilMedal.

A three-rowed drop drill, which can be used either onridges or flat ground. It is capable of depositing pul-verized manure at any required distance from 10 to 18inches, in given quantities from 10 to 50 bushels peracre. The seed can be deposited with the manure, or themanure covered up with soil and the seed delivered on thedrops. The drill economizes manure, and worked verywell. Price 24/. We awarded it a Council Medal.

A two-rowed turnip drill on the ridge, which can he madeinto a three-rowed turnip drill on the fiat, for drillingturnips or mangoid-wurzel seed and manure. This drillembraces a variety of improvements—the rollers beingmade in sections capable of being adapted to a larger orsmaller ridge of the proper form to receive the seeds, andthe second concave rollers follow, and leave the ridge in aperfect form. The drill is now so perfect, and did its workso well, that we awarded it a Council Medal.

Messrs. Garrett and Son exhibited their well-knowngeneral-purpose drill, with the improvement of a simplemethod of regulating it so as to work on the sides of hills.There is also a slide for the regulation of the feed of themanure, with an index to show the quantity delivered.Price 42/. Tins drill did its work remarkably well; andwe considered it entitled to a Council Medal.

A four-rowed turnip drill on the fiat, embracing tlie im-provements of the general-purpose drill, was also put to asevere test with other drills; but, upon the whole, we con-sidered it to do its work a shade better than those broughtagainst it, and we awarded to it a Council Medal.

A hand-barrow drill — the construction and excellentworkmanship exhibited in the implement merited the un-qualified approbation of the jury—distributing grass-seedsbroadcast in an excellent manner, by means of two com-partments in the same box, that the quantities of each mayhe regulated as desired, the clover and rye grass beingmixed in their transit to the ground. Wc considered it avery useful implement, and recommended it as worthy of aCouncil Medal.

Messrs. Ransomes and May, of Ipswich , exhibited a verywell-constructed drop drill, which did its work excellently,and of a very different construction from any of the otherdrop drills; and, for the ingenuity of contrivance andsuperiority of workmanship, we awarded it a Prize Medal.

Mr.Busby, of Newton-le-Willows, near Bcdale, exhibiteda drill which he called a ribbing drill, which is well con-structed, very simple, ancl strong, and does its work ex-tremely well, making a broader seam to lay the com or seedin, which is considered by many, and especially byforeigners, as a great advantage. Price 14/. To which weawarded a Council Medal.

Messrs. Hcnsman and Son, Woburn, Bedfordshire , exhi-bited a self-adjusting steerage corn drill. This drill variesfrom the generality of drills, as it is drawn from the centreby whipple-trees instead of shafts : and the drill-man behindcan steer or direct the drill with the greatest nicety. Thecorn-box of the drill is entirely self-acting, and delivers theseed equally well going cither up or down hill. It is alsocapable of horse-hoeing, by attaching hoes to the levers,instead of the coulter shares. This implement works verywell, and the price from 18/. to 20/. We awarded it a PrizeMedal.

M. Claes, of Belgium, exhibited a nine-rowed, verysimple, well-made Belgian drill. It did its work extremelywell. The coulters made a broader seam to receive thecorn than the generality of English drills; and the harrowwhich is attached to the drill covers the seed with fine