3 'JO 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



eud of the pinion-shaft, both sides of the machine are 

 raised simultaneously. Hollow tubular iron is used for 

 the shafts, the back rail, the front bar, and the stays ; 

 these parts being all united together by casting upon 

 them elbow and T pieces. 



Of various horse-rakes exhibited, that patented by 

 Thomas Smith, of Bredfield, SufFolk, is the most recent 

 novelty. There are some points about it particularly 

 worthy of notice. The peculiar feature is the combina- 

 tion of a counterbalance weight with each of the tines, 

 each tine having an independent movement on the cen- 

 tral bar which sustains the assemblage. By this ar- 

 rangement the pressure on the tines can be so regulated 

 that they cannot sink into the land, dragging up and 

 mixing the soil with the hay or stubble, a fault which 

 obtains with some forms of horse-rakes. The leverage 

 by which the tines are simultaneously raised is also 

 worthy of notice, as ingenious in arrangement, and re- 

 markably easily worked. This machine was highly 

 commended. Of machines of this class, the most de- 

 cided novelty was the horse-rake of Messrs. Mary- 

 church and Sons, of Haverfordwest, Pembroke. 

 This was highly commended " for its peculiar facility 

 in its delivery, being nearly self-acting." The main 

 feature of the machine is the working of the teeth, 

 or tines, by the forward motion of the implement itself. 

 The following is the method patented by the inventors : 

 A strong iron bar, which revolves on its own axis, car- 

 ries the tines or teeth. On this bar, within the frame, 

 two cranks (« a) are fixed ; a third crank (b) is fixed to 

 the extremity of the shaft, which extends a few inches 

 beyond the frame. The extremities of the cranks (a a) 

 carry a bar (e), which is parallel to the tine bar, and 

 which passes under the ends of the tines ; thus when the 

 bar e is raised, the tines all rest upon it. Fixed to and 

 revolving with the main driving-wheel is a ratchet- 

 wheel (d). A lever (e) vibrates on the pin of the outside 

 crank (6) as a centre; this lever is provided with two 

 tongues iff) and a curved end (g). A cord is attached 

 to the end of the lever (t), and carried by the attendant 

 leading or driving the horse : when required to discharge 

 the load which the tines have collected from the field, he 

 raises the end of the lever (c) next him ; this depresses 

 the other end, so that the two tongues (ff) fall into 

 corresponding teeth of the ratchet-wheel (d) ; as this 

 revolves by the motion of the driving wheel, the lever 

 (e) is raised up, and as it works on the crank or pin of 

 the outside crank (b) as a centre, it moves this crank 

 (b), and as this is keyed to the shaft which carries the 

 crank (««), it turns the shaft, lifts the crank (««), and 

 the bar (c) on which rest the tines. The tines are thus 

 raised upwards, and relieved of their load. The tines 

 having arrived in this position, the back of the next 

 tooth of the ratchet-wheel to that in which the last 

 tongue of the lever was engaged, presses against the 

 curved end {g) of the lever (e), throws it out of gear, 

 and the teeth fall of their own weight. The frame and 

 the teeth may be set to any inclination when the rake is 

 at work, by turning a handle attached to a screw, which 

 works into a nut jointed to the shaft. 



The light drag-hoe and hand-cultivator, invented 



by Sigma as substitutes for the horse-hoe, may here 

 be noticed. The implement is suitable for all crops 

 growing in rows, and is manufacturable in a variety of 

 ways. In one form it is merely a share, of the width of 

 the row to be hoed, turned up at each end, the end one 

 prolonged so as to form the letter V ; at the centre an* 

 gle a goose-neck is fixed into a handle. Ttie share, 

 having both edges sharp, can be thrust backward or 

 forward, the labourer being able to hoe as fast nearly as 

 he can walk. To convert this into a drag-hoe, a weight 

 is placed in the top of the V, which is provided with 

 slots to keep it tight, and a cross handle is provided to 

 the shaft. This cross handle is capable of being 

 shifted up and down, being tightened by a wedge at any 

 point desired. In the third form of the implement, the 

 V-shaped part is made to expand or contract so as to 

 suit shares of sufficient widths ; this is done either by 

 jointing them like a pair of shears, or by means of two 

 straight slotted bars. The same handle is suited to this 

 apparatus. 



Of the minor novelties not strictly agricultural, space 

 allows to notice one only : that, however, one which has 

 attracted considerable attention, and bids fair to re- 

 volutionise practice in the interesting if not important 

 branch of beekeeping; we allude to the "Platform 

 Bee-Hive," an American invention. In common with 

 other patented bee-hives, this has the convenience of two 

 tiers of four boxes each, so that when one is filled with 

 honey, the bees have access, and will transfer themselves 

 to the other box, the filled box being taken away. The 

 feature which distinguishes Mr. Davis's plan from all 

 others, however, is the provision made for enabling the 

 bees to work all winter without the loss of an hour. 

 This is effected by supplying them with an inexpensive 

 composition, of which the bees are so fond as even to 

 prefer it in many cases to flowers. The platform pre- 

 sents the appearance of a cottage pianoforte, of which 

 the two tieis of hives form the upper part. The pro- 

 jecting portion at the front is covered at top with 

 woven wire-work. The feeding-boxes are below this, 

 and connected by openings with the boxes above. The 

 feeding-boxes contain double floating platforms, pro- 

 vided with narrow openings ; through these the bees can 

 sip at will the liquid composition without clogging their 

 legs or wings with it. The dirt or dropping of the bees 

 falls into a space underneath the hives, thus preserving 

 the cleanliness of the hives and the health of the bees. 

 In cold weather the bees are removed from out of doors 

 into shelter, and a temperature of about 75'' Fahr. 

 kept up by a stove or a steamer. The hives are provi- 

 ded with glass backs and fronts, through which at any 

 time the bees can be inspected while at work ; but as 

 they prefer generally to work in the dark, wooden shut- 

 ters are provided to obscure the light. As often as it 

 is necessary to give them new comb to work on, the 

 bees can be immediately transferred to another box, thus 

 obviating the necessity of destroying them on the old 

 system. The expense of the composition supplied to 

 feed the bees during winter may be estimated at Ijd. 

 per pound. It may be right to state that this invention, 

 at the agricultural meetings in the United States, took 

 the prize over all other competitors, — From the Journal 

 of Agriculture. 



(To lie continued.) 



