AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS AND RURAL ECONOMY. 



97 



mode in which the machine operates is as follows : If grain is to be sown, the seeds are dis- 

 tributed from a hopper placed above and in front of a harrow, which immediately passes 

 over it ; but if grass-seed is to be sown, the seed falls from a rotating cylinder fixed behind 

 the harrow, on the ground freshly stirred by the harrow, and the roller, which is attached 

 to the end of the frame or carriage supporting the harrow and seeding apparatus, passes 

 over the seeds, and completes the operation of planting. Both seeders can be detached 

 from the machine at pleasure, and the harrow and roller used separately, if desired. The 

 roller and seeders may also be used in connection or separately for seeding grass-land, the 

 distribution of grain from the seeders being regulated by an appropriate apparatus. The 

 patentee states that the machine will work as much ground in a day as an ordinary harrow, 

 and is no harder for the team ; the harrow part being so constructed that the teeth of the 

 harrow may be depressed or elevated at will. This combination of agricultural machinery 

 is said to be simple and easy of construction, and may be kept in order without difficulty. 

 It comes to us highly recommended by various county societies and private individuals. 



M'Gofey's Seed-planter. — A patented improvement, made by J. W. M'Gaffey, of Syracuse, 

 New York, April, 1855, consists in the use of a tilt apron arranged in connection with a 

 distributing roller, whereby the seed and manure are deposited in the furrow or hill at the 

 same time. 



Hand Seed-Planters. 



Wakefield's Seed-Planter. — The accompanying engraving 

 represents the construction and arrangement of a new hand 

 seed-planter, the invention of C. A. Wakefield, of Plainfield, 

 Massachusetts. The illustration represents a vertical sec- 

 tion of the implement, with the plunger out, and the con- 

 struction will be readily understood by reference to the 

 following description : — 



A is the hopper or box containing the corn; it is filled 

 through the lid a. A' is a guide frame in front of the 

 seed-box, to direct the up-and-down movement of the im- 

 bedding plunger C, which, in its double movement by the 

 groove g and pin /, alternately opens and closes a delivery 

 slide, which works in a groove e in the seed-box at its bot- 

 tom. This slide has an aperture in it. As plunger C rises, 

 a suitable number of grains of corn for a hill is conveyed 

 through the passage c into the receiving chamber D. In 

 the descent of the plunger C when planting, the delivery 

 slide is drawn back to take in a fresh supply of grain from 

 the hopper, and hold it ready for another delivery ; at the 

 same time the plunger, in its descent, ejects the charge of 

 corn previously fed down into D, and imbeds it at the pro- 

 per depth in the soil. The plunger C opens the receiving 

 chamber D by pressing against the back plate of it, which 

 is acted upon by spring W, to allow the grain to pass out, 

 and also to close said chamber again when the plunger is 

 drawn back, so as to retain the seed fed into it for the next 

 hill. G is a flange projecting from the plunger C at its 

 bottom, on the rear side, for guiding and holding the grain, 

 when being imbedded between it and the short front plate 

 H, which enters the ground and projects from the broad 

 stop-plate I; this latter plate stops the further entrance of the implement into the soil. 

 The side flanges project from the front plate I, and serve, in conjunction with the elastic 

 back plate of the chamber D and bottom plate H, to scrape off the dirt adhering to the 



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