94 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



both figures. This agricultural implement is in many respects like a common plow ; it has a 

 beam A and handles B B, united to an inclined bar C, to which the scoop or plowshare D is 

 attached. The scoop is formed with two angular mould-boards a a, forming an angle. The 

 improvement consists in providing these mould-boards with slots d d tf, arranged in vertical di- 

 rections, or nearly so ; that is, standing upwards rather than horizontally. The planes of 

 these slots are disposed parallel to each other and to the plane of the beam, and they are each 

 made to extend from near the bottom of each mould-board to near the top of the game. Through 

 these slots the dirt passes while the machine is used in plowing through or digging into a po- 

 tato-field, the potatoes being thrown upon each side of the furrow and left in full sight. This 

 mould-board works through the earth or soil, acting like a seive, raising and separating the 

 potatoes from the earth, and leaving most of the earth or soil in its place. 



There can be no question about the simplicity of this potato-digging plow : it raises the po- 

 tatoes and leaves them only to be gathered up, which labor can be performed by boys. The 

 claim is for the construction of the potato plow, with slots standing vertically or nearly so, and 

 having their respective planes parallel to a vertical plane passing through the draught-beam. 

 Digging potatoes is a severe and tedious operation ; any machinery to obviate the manual 

 labor in this department of agriculture should be welcomed by all those engaged in farming. 

 \Ve have been assured by Mr. Bundy that it will turn out several acres of potatoes in a day, 

 and that it can be handled with as much facility as a common plow. Scientific American. 



This machine obviates the necessity of pulling up the tops, as they do not obstruct the ope- 

 ration of the digger, which may also be used as a cultivator for ordinary purposes. 



Ellis's and Gordon's Excavating Machine. 



THIS improvement of Messrs. Ellis and Gordon, of Rochester, N. Y., consists in the mode 

 of operating the excavating machine by placing it within the circuit of an endless chain, which 

 passes over a pulley anchored at one point, and over or around a capstan at another point, so 

 that the machine shall form a part of the endless chain, and be operated forwards and back- 

 wards by it. 



Securing and Setting Harrow Teeth. 



THE accompanying figure is a perspective 

 view, representing an improved mode of securing 

 and setting harrow teeth, for which a patent 

 was recently granted to E. L. Hagar, of Frank- 

 fort, Herkimer co., N. Y. The improvement 

 relates to a new method of securing the teeth 

 in the frames of harrows ; also in rendering 

 them capables of being adjusted from a vertical 

 to an oblique position, and set to any depth de- 

 sired. A represents a section of a harrow-frame 

 BE. D E is a metal casting set in an inclined 

 recess, cut in the inner edge of the section A. 



This casting is provided with two square holes a b in its lower horizontal portion D one run- 

 ning in a vertical and the other in an oblique direction. The projecting parts B E of the 

 casting form two grooves F G, of a similar shape and size as the holes a b one of which runs 

 in an oblique direction in line with the hole a, and the other in a vertical direction in line with 

 the hole b. On the plate B, forming the back sides of the grooves F G, tongues c d are cast. 

 The tongue c runs at right angles to the groove F, and d at right angles to the groove G. These 

 tongues enter notches cut in the sides of the harrow teeth, and aid in keeping said teeth in 

 place. H is a harrow tooth. It is made square or many-sided, eeeare the adjusting notches 

 or traverse grooves which are cast in one of the sides of the tooth. These notches receive 

 the tongues as represented. The tooth H, when it is to be set obliquely, is passed through the 

 hole a, and fitted as shown in the groove G, and when set in a vertical position, is passed 

 through the hole b and fitted in the groove F. I J is a clamp or elbow-shaped screw-bolt 



