306 



THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 



duce a larger yield of grain, than if the seed were put 

 into the mellow ground without any such compressing 

 of the seed-bed, is all moonshine, and unphilosophical. 



Beckwith's Roller Drill. 

 The accompanying representation of a drill will furnish 



Fig. 44.— Beckwith's Roller Drill. 



a fair idea of the style of implement made by P. D. Beck- 

 with, Dowagiac, Michigan. This drill consists of a series 

 of cast-iron rollers or wheel, one of which is shown in 

 the engraving, all placed on a wrought-iron shaft, or 

 axle, which will roll on the ground, each one independ- 

 ent of the other, and which support the entire frame 

 and all the machinery of the drill. These rollers are 

 twenty-eight inches in diameter, and have a Y-shaped 

 periphery, which, by the aid of the weight of the drill, 

 form small furrows in the soil to receive the seed. 



The rollers are also made with sufficient hub to keep 

 tbem the proper distance apart, seven and a half inches 



