crops, or clovers, with liquid manure, previously rolling them. It has the advantage of

a more perfect machine, in the holes being easily cleaned when choked up with the thickened water.

(2680. and 2688.)

363

2712. The furrow-roller (fig. 363.) is contrived for the purpose of rolling the furrows in steep hilly situations, and other places where the common roller cannot be employed.

2713. The Norfolk drill-roller, and the ridge and furrow concave or scalloped roller attached to certain turnip-drills, have already been depicted.

2714. The pressing plough is a term erroneously applied to a machine of the roller

of rough, mossy, and heathy land, in order to reduce the soil to a state fit for receiving the seed. It consists of a series of parallel iron plates, or blades as they may be termed, fixed in a frame-work of wood, by the weight of which, and the pressure on the shafts by the driver, they are forced into the ground. The frame consists of oak; and the main beams are 4 feet long, 6 inches deep, and 5 inches broad, with cross bars of proportional strength. The handles are 6 feet long. The blades are of good foreign iron, 4 feet 3 inches

long, 3 inches broad, and five eighths of an inch thick at the back. The curves of the blades are formed to a circle of 40 inches diameter. (High. Soc. Trans. vol. vii.)

2716. The Sithney scarifier, or hash, consists of a cylinder with many circular cutters, or a number of circular cutters connected together upon one axis, which is intended to pass over the ground, for the purpose of scarifying or cutting the surface of grass land, perpendicularly, to the depth of a few inches, and to any required degree of fineness. By means of this scarifier, or hash, the roots of old grass may be effectually destroyed without the labour of ploughing, which is calculated to enable the farmer to graze the land much longer, previously to breaking it up for wheat or turnip tillage. The apparatus is proposed to be connected to the hinder part of an ordinary cart; or the axis of the cylinder, or circular cutters, may be supported by two iron arms, attached to the axletree with a pair of common carriage wheels. When this machine is used for renewing lawns or grass land, it will then be necessary to fix above the cutters a box containing grass seed; which box must be perforated with small holes, one hole being exactly over every cutter, so that the seed may fall immediately into the furrow produced by the cutter. (Newton's Journal, vol. i. p. 250.)

2717. The only essential roller for general purposes is the parted cast-iron roller, with a scraper and box over (fig. 359.).

SECT. V. Machines for laying Land even, and other occasional or anomalous Tillage Machines.

2718. Various machines for agricultural purposes are occasionally brought into notice by amateur cultivators, and some even by the professional farmer. It forms, indeed, the privilege and the characteristic of wealth and intelligence, to procure to be made whatever particular circumstances may require, in every department of the mechanical agents of culture. We shall only notice a few, and that chiefly for the purpose of showing the resources of the present age.

2719. Of machines for laying land level two may be noticed: in the first and best

(fig. 367.), the horses are harnessed to a pole (a), which is joined to an axle having a pair of low wheels (b c). Into this axletree are mortised two long side-pieces (d), terminating in handles (e e). Somewhat inclined to these long or upper side pieces, shorter lower ones are joined by cross pieces, and connected by strong side-boards. The machine has no bot

tom; its back part (f) is strongly attached to an axle (fig. 368. g), and to the bottom of this the scraper part (h) is firmly screwed. The front ends of the slide irons (fig.

368

367. m), turning up, pass easily through mortises in the upper side-pieces (d), where, by means of pins, the inclination of the slide irons and of the back board can be adjusted within narrow limits, according to the nature of the soil to be levelled and the mass of earth previously loosened by ploughing. This earth the back board is intended to collect and force before it, until the machine arrives at the place where it is intended to be deposited. Here, by lifting up the hinder part of the machine by its handles (e e), the contents are left on the ground, and the machine proceeds to a fresh hillock. (Supp. Encycl. Brit. i. 25.)

2720. The Flemish levelling machine (fig. 369.) may be considered as a shovel, on a large scale, to be drawn by a pair of horses; it collects earth at the pleasure of the holder, who contrives to make the horses turn over the shovel and empty the contents by merely letting go the handle (a), and recovering it by

a

369

means of a cord (b), when emptied, as already described. (508.)

2721. The levelling harrow (2701.) is adequate to all ordinary purposes,

2722. The horse machines of haytime and harvest are chiefly the horse rakes, the hay tedder, and the reaping machine.

SUBSECT. 1. Horse Rakes and Haymaking Machines.

2723. Raking machines are not in very general use; but, where corn is mown, they are successfully employed in drawing together the scattered stalks, and are also of great use in haymaking. The saving in both cases consists in the substitution of animal for manual labour.

2724. The common or Norfolk horse rake (fig. 370.) is employed for barley and oat

370

crops, and also for hay. One man, and a horse driven by means of a line or rein, are capable of clearing from twenty to thirty acres in a moderate day's work; the grain being deposited in regular rows or lines across the field, by simply lifting up the tool and dropping it from the teeth, without the horse being stopped.

2725. The horse stubble-rake is a large heavy kind of horse rake, having strong iron teeth, fourteen or fifteen inches in length, placed at five or six inches from each other, and a beam four

inches square, and eight or ten feet in length. In drawing it two horses are sometimes made use of, by which it is capable of clearing a considerable quantity of stubble in a short time. In general, however, it is much better economy to cut the stubble as a part of the straw.

2726. The couch-grass rake differs little from the last, and is employed in fallowing very foul lands, to collect the couch-grass or other root weeds. It may be observed, however, that where a good system of cultivation is followed, no root weeds will ever obtain such an ascendency in the soil as to render an implement of this kind requisite. 2727. Weir's improved hay or corn rake (fig. 371.) is adjusted by wheels, and is readily

put in and out of gear by means of the handles (a a) and bent iron stays (bb). drawn by one horse in shafts (c), and is a very effective implement.

It is

2728. The hay-tedding machine (fig. 372.), invented about 1800, by Salmon of Woburn, has been found a very useful implement, especially in making natural or meadow hay, which requires to be much more frequently turned, and more thinly spread out, than hay from clover and rye grass. It consists of an axle and pair of wheels, the axle forming the shaft of an open cylindrical frame, formed by arms proceeding from it, from the extremities of which bars are stretched, set with iron prongs, pointing outwards, and about six inches long, and curved. There is a crank by which this cylinder of prongs is raised from the ground, when the machine is going to, and returning from, the field;

or when it is not wanted to operate. It is drawn by one horse, and, on the whole, answers as a tedding machine perfectly. In the neighbourhood of London, where

372

373

a

meadow hay is so extensively made, it is found to produce a great saving of labour, and is now coming into very general use. 2729. The hay swoop or sweep (fig. 373.) is an implement for drawing or sweeping accumulations of hay to the cart or rick, or to any larger accumulations. Sometimes a rope is merely put round the heap, especially if it has been a few days in the cock, or piled up; but the most general hay swoop consists of two curved pieces of wood, six or eight feet long, joined by upright pieces, so as to form something like the back of a chair. To the four corners of this, ropes are attached, which meet in the hook of a one-horse whipple-tree (a). 2730. Snowden's leaf-collecting machine is for the purpose of collecting dead leaves from lawns, parks, and pleasure-grounds, and has been employed in the King's grounds at Hampton Court. The apparatus consists of a large cylindrical tub, about five feet in diameter, and seven feet long, which swings upon an axle, and is open at top, in order to receive the leaves as they are collected. The collectors are hollow iron scoops, or scrapers, attached to bars, extending across the machine from two iron hoops, which work round the cylindrical receiver, and, as they revolve, scrape the ground, collect the leaves together, lift them up, and turn them over into the tub. The collectors or scoops

374

(fig. 374.) are made of many distinct pieces, set in rows, with springs behind each, by which any part of the scraper is enabled to give way, should it come in contact with a stone, in a manner similar to the rake bars of a haymaking machine. The hoops carrying the scrapers are lowered and adjusted to meet the ground, by having their pivots supported in a lever attached to the carriage, upon which it is adjusted by means of a circular rack and pinion. The scrapers are carried round as the carriage moves forward, by neans of a spur-wheel, upon the nave of one of the carriage wheels, which works into a cog wheel upon the axis of the scraper-frame. This apparatus is designed, beside cleaning parks and lawns of dead leaves, to remove snow from the walks, to scrape and clean roads, and for several other useful purposes. (Newton's Journal, vol. i. p. 203.)

SUBSECT. 2. Reaping Machines.

2731. Though reaping machines, as we have seen (133.), are as old as the time of the Romans, one of an effective description is yet a desideratum in agriculture; unless the recent invention of the Rev. Patrick Bell can be considered as supplying that desideratum. The high price of manual labour during harvest, and the universal desire in civilised society of abridging every description of labour, will doubtless call forth such a reaping machine as may be employed in all ordinary situations; and this is, perhaps, all that can be desired or expected. Corn laid down, or twisted and matted by wind and rain, or growing among trees, or on very irregular surfaces, or steep sides of hills, will probably ever require to be reaped by hand. But independently of the high price of labour, despatch, as an able author observes (Supp. Encyc. Brit. i. 118.), is a matter of great importance in such a climate as that of Britain. In reaping corn at the precise period of its maturity, the advantages of despatch are incalculable, especially in those districts where the difficulty of procuring hands, even at enormous wages, aggravates the danger from the instability of the season, It cannot, therefore, fail to be interesting, and we hope it may be also useful, to record some of the more remarkable attempts that have been made towards an invention so eminently calculated to forward this most important operation.

2732. The first attempt at a reaping machine, so far as we have learned, was made by Boyce, who obtained a patent for a reaping machine early in the present century. This machine was placed in a twowheeled carriage, somewhat resembling a common cart, but the wheels were fixed upon the axle, so that it revolved along with them. A cog-wheel, within the carriage, turned a smaller one at the upper end of an inclined axis, and at the lower end of this was a larger wheel, which gave a rapid motion to a pinion fixed upon a vertical axis in the forepart of the carriage, and rather on one side, so that it went before one of the wheels of the carriage. The vertical spindle descended to within a few inches of the surface of the ground, and had there a number of scythes fixed upon it horizontally. This machine, when wheeled along, would, by the rapid revolution of its scythes, cut down a portion of the corn growing upon the ground over which it passed; but having no provision for gathering up the corn in parcels and laying it in proper heaps, it was wholly unsuited to the purpose.

2753. An improvement on this attempt was made by Plucknet, an agricultural implement-maker of London, some years afterwards. The principal alteration he made was in substituting for the scythes a circular steel plate, made very sharp at the edge, and notched at the upper side like a sickle. This plate acted in the same manner as a very fine toothed saw, and was found to cut the corn much better than the scythes of the original machine.

2734. A machine, invented by Gladstone of Castle Douglas, in the stewartry of Kircudbright, operated upon nearly the same principles with Plucknet's; but Gladstone made his work much better by introducing a circular table, with strong wooden teeth notched below, all around, which was fixed immediately over the cutter and parallel to it. The use of these teeth was to collect the corn, and retain it till it was operated on by the circular cutter. The corn, when cut, was received upon this table; and, when a sufficient quantity was collected, taken away by a rake or sweeper, and laid upon the ground beneath the machine, in separate parcels. To this machine was added a small circular wheel of wood, covered with emery, which, being always kept in contact with the great cutter at the back part, or opposite side to that where the cutting was performed, kept it constantly ground to a sharp edge. 2735. Salmon of Woburn made the next attempt; and his invention, it is said, promised better than those we have mentioned. It was constructed upon a totally different principle, as it cut the corn by means of shears; and it was provided with a very complete apparatus for laying it down in parcels as it was cut. 2736. The next machine (fig. 375.), and one of great ingenuity and promise, is that constructed by

Smith, of the Deanston Cotton Works, Perthshire. Smith's perseverance, his successive improvements, and ingenious yet simple contrivances for remedying defects, afforded strong grounds to hope that he would ultimately succeed in rendering his machine a most valuable acquisition to agriculturists; but various circumstances have prevented Mr. Smith from perfecting his invention. He made the first trial of his machine upon a small scale, during the harvest of 1811. It was then wrought by two men. In 1812 he constructed one upon a larger scale, to be wrought by a horse; but, though he cut down several acres of oats and barley with considerable ease, it was found that when met by an acclivity the horse could not move the machine with proper effect. In 1813 he made a more successful attempt, with an improved machine, worked by one man and two horses; and (1814) it was still farther improved by an additional apparatus, tending to regulate the application of the cutter when working on an uneven surface. This ingenious machine has been again tried, in September 1815, and with much success. A Scotch acre (14 acre English) of beans was cut down with ease in an hour and a quarter. The trials made with it on wheat, though not extensive, were satisfactory; and in reaping oats, the corn was laid down in the most regular manner. The cutter of this machine is circular, and operates horizontally; it is appended to a drum connected with the forepart of the machine, its blade projecting some inches beyond the periphery of the lower end of the drum; and the machine is so constructed as to communicate, in moving forward, a rapid rotatory motion to this drum and cutter, by which the stalks are cut, and, falling upon the drum, are carried round and thrown off in regular rows. This most ingenious piece of machinery will cut about an English acre per hour, during which time the cutter requires to be four times sharpened with a common scythe stone. The expense of this machine is estimated at from thirty to thirty-five pounds. If properly managed it may last for many years; only requiring a new cutter every two or three years, a repair which cannot cost much. This promising invention, which attracted a good deal of notice a few years ago, remains, it is believed, as it was then, in a state not calculated for extensive use. Mr. Smith's large concerns in the cotton manufacture may have prevented him from continuing his experiments; and it is understood that the time he has already devoted to it has been without sufficient remuneration or encouragement.

2737. Bell's reaping machine (figs $76. and 377.) is the most recent as well as the most perfect invention of this description. The frame-work of this machine (AA) may be made lighter or stronger according to circumstances; BB and c c are four wheels upon which it is mounted, of whatever form it is made; BB have their spokes at right angles to their naves, and are 34 feet diameter. For neatness' sake the naves are made of cast-iron; the wheels are from five to six inches broad at the rims, and are surrounded with a slight hoop of iron. Were they made narrower in the rims, when the ground was soft they would both cut it, and drag, without giving motion to the connected parts of the machinery. The small wheels (cc), which support the front of the frame, are (like the large ones B B) inade of wood: they are fourteen inches in diameter, and six inches broad at the rims, with a very slight hoop of iron round them. Their axles, which are of iron, are screwed to the frame, and are about 14