THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



515 



Mr, Fowler's paper " On Cultivation by SteaiM, its 

 Past History, and Probable Future," delivered before 

 the Society of Arts, Feb. 1, 1856. We propose, for the 

 economization of space, to notice patents of compara- 

 tively recent date only, the first selected being that of 

 Mr. James Usher of Edinburgh, 1849 being the date 

 of his patent. Although this machine has been already 

 fully described in this journal, a brief recapitulation of 

 its peculiarities may be useful here. The cultivating 

 part of the machine consists of a series of what the in- 

 ventor calls " ploughs," attached to plates or discs 

 fixed on a central shaft. These ploughs have a strong 

 resemblance to the ordinary plough, inasmuch as the 

 mould-board, share, and coulter are all represented ; 

 but their aetion in the soil is essentially different. Un- 

 dei'standing as the peculiar and unvarying result of 

 the common plough the turning over of the slice of 

 the earth, and laying it at a certain angle, the " tilling" 

 part of the machine now under consideration can 

 scarcely be called ploughs, as the work they perform is 

 essentially distinct fi'om that of the ordinary plough. 

 As the discs to which those tilling parts are affixed 

 revolve, the points of the shares and coulters penetrate 

 the earth, tear it up, pass it over the mould-board, and 

 leave it in an inverted state on the soil. The action is 

 therefore more, as we understand it, a stirring than a 

 ploughing of the soil. There are three tilling parts 

 attached to each disc, each of which comes successively 

 into action; and as there are several discs on the 

 main shaft, each with its set of " tilling parts," the 

 " ploughs" are so arranged that no two of them 

 come into action at the same time. These " tilling 

 parts," however, serve a double purpose : they act as 

 propellers also ; for as the paddles of a steam-boat enter 

 into and are resisted by the water carrying the boat 

 along, so in like manner do the tilling parts of Mr. 

 Usher's machine enter the earth ; which ofiering a re- 

 sistance, causes the machine to which the tilling parts 

 are attached to progress over the laud. Thus by the 

 ingenious adaptation of a mechanical necessity two im- 

 portant purposes are attained — first, progression over 

 the land to be ploughed bringing successive por- 

 tions of the soil under the action of the ploughs; 

 and secondly, the accurate self-adjustment of the 

 speed of progression to that of the ploughing or tilling 

 implements. It is unnecessary here to describe the 

 gearing by which the motion of the engine is commu- 

 cated to the central shaft bearing the jdough discs : suf- 

 fice it to say, that the inventor seems to have well con- 

 sidered the whole of the mechanical arrangements, so as 

 to meet all the inquirements of pi-actice. Thus, for in- 

 stance, by a simple arrangement the depth to which the 

 ploughs penetrate the soil can be easily adj usted ; or 

 they can, if necessary, be lifted up completely out of 

 contact with the soil. An arrangement is also pro- 

 vided, by which the machine when at the headlands 

 can be turned in a comparatively small space. 



Taking the patent machines in the order of their 

 dates, we come now to describe the " rotary" culti- 

 vator of Mr. Bethell (Dec. 3, 1822, No. 049 ; the cost 

 of the specification of this patent is lO^d. ; it is illus- 



trated by three plates). The general arrangement of 

 the machine is somewhat similar to that of Mr. Usher's. 

 The digging part of the apparatus — consisting of a drum 

 or shaft, round which are arranged in a vertical direc- 

 tion a number of prongs or tines — is placed behind the 

 machine, and receives motion from a horizontal steam- 

 engine, through the medium of drums and belts. The 

 depth to which the tines of the digger operate is regu- 

 lated by a screw shaft, worked by a handle, as in the 

 machines above noted. On the end of the fly-wheel 

 shaft a pulley (a), or drum is fixed, round which passes 

 a belt, giving motion to a pulley, a little in advance, 

 and below the fly-wheel shaft. This second pulley (b) 

 is fixed on the shaft or axle of two lever arms, at the 

 outer end of which the shaft of the digger is placed. 

 A pulley (c) on the digger shaft receives motion by 

 means of a belt or rigger from the pulley (b). As the 

 depth to which the tines work is lessened or increased, 

 the lever arms fall or rise accordingly, and the relative 

 position of the two pulleys (b and c) are maintained, so 

 that the belt is always tight. 



The inventor stated at the recent meeting of the 

 Society of Arts, that he had been experimenting for 

 three years with this machine, at a large expenditure of 

 money ; but the experience he obtained was such as to 

 induce him to believe that he had succeeded : he stated 

 also that he had designed a new engine, which would 

 work as high as 100 lbs. to the inch. The following 

 is an extract from the inventor's statement : " It dug 

 like Parkes's forks, and left the ground in a perfect 

 state of tilth after one operation; it threw the earth 

 up into the air, the earth falling first because the 

 heaviest, and the weeds coming upon the surface. 

 They had no difficulty in working about four or five 

 acres a day with that machine. It dug down to the 

 depth of nine inches, and farmers who had seen it 

 working had stated that it did as much in one opera- 

 tion as would require two or three ploughings to per- 

 form, besides scarifying, harrowing, &c." The esti- 

 mated cost of its working was about 9s., whereas 23s. 

 was slated to be the cost under the ordinary mode. 

 The machine is hauled over the gi'ound by horse 

 power, that of the steam-engine being employed to 

 work the diggers only. A complete adjustment there- 

 fore between the progressive velocity of the machine 

 over the land, and the rate of working of the diggers, is 

 not attained. It will be noted also that the action of 

 the machine is such as to leave the weeds uppermost— 

 a questionable result. Not the least important office, as 

 some think, perfoi-med by the ordinary plough, is the 

 complete inversion of the soil, so as to bury the surface 

 material." R. S. B. 



{To be continued ) 



