SOWING-MACHINES 



SOW-THISTLE 



employed exclusively for cereals and grasses, the 

 other two for any kind of crop. 



Cereals. As above mentioned, cereals may be 

 sown either broadcast, drilled, or dibbled. If the 

 first method is to be adopted, the land receives 

 what is called the seed-furrow, or, if rough, it gets 

 a single stripe with the harrows, and the seed is 

 then sown either by band or by the broadcast 

 machine. This machine consists of a triangular 

 frame with the apex to the front, supported on 

 three wheels, and carrying a long wooden box of 

 the form of a triangular prism, set with a flat side 

 the lid uppermost. This box, which is placed 

 at right angles to the line of draught, is furnished 

 with a row of small holes at the bottom, about 7 

 inches apart ; and a little above this row is placed 

 a longitudinal spindle, carrying a set of hard 

 circular brushes, one opposite each hole, and deriv- 

 ing a rotatory motion from the axle of the bind- 

 wheels. The size of the apertures can lie adjusted 

 to the desired quantity of seed per acre by means 

 of a movable plat* outside provided with holes 

 corresponding to those of the box. When the box 

 is supplied with seed, and the machine set in 

 motion, the grain drops through the holes, which 

 are kept from clogging by the rapid rotation of 

 the brushes. The box is made of such a length 

 ( 16 to 20 feet) that 30 to 35 acres may be sown in 

 a day. The seed is then covered by harrowing. 

 This machine is much used in Scotland, being 

 rather better suited to hilly and uneven surfaces, 

 and, from its more rapid execution, to a climate 

 which frequently interferes with agricultural opera- 

 tions. In England, where the climate is more 

 favourable and the surface more level, the drilling- 

 machine is the favourite. So it is now in certain 

 parts of Scotland, where the amount of seed de- 

 posited by drilling has increased immensely. The 

 land is prepared for sowing by as complete pulver- 

 i.-iitiini as possible, and its surface is made quite 

 even by the harrow and roller. The drill (fig.), 

 which in the arrangement of some of its essential 



Corn-drill. 



parts corresponds to the broadcast-machine, differs 

 from it in being furnished with a set of coulters, 

 which are hollowed behind to enclose the lower 

 ends of a corresponding set of tin tulies, whose 

 up|>er ends are fixed opposite to the holes in the 

 seed-box. By this machine a series of furrows of 

 uniform depth are made by the coulters : into these 

 furrows the seed is directed by means of the tin 

 tube*. The modern drill-machine covers the seed 

 most uniformly. The harrowing is generally com- 

 pleted Ill-ion- drilling begins. The spindle inside 

 the seed-box is provided with grooved cylinders or 

 pinions in place of brushes, and the seed-rows are 

 genernlly made from 4 to 10 inches apart. The 

 advantages of this machine over the former consist 

 in the greater regularity of deposition of the seed, 

 which admits of hoeing and other cleaning opera- 

 tions during the early )M'riod of growl li ; in the 

 uniform depth at which the seed i- [limited, so that 

 none of it is lost by being buried, while it is all 

 covered ; in the protection of the operation from 

 the disturbing influence of winds ; in the saving of 

 eed and greater yield of grain, it being often found 



that if drilled seed be to broadcast, in quantity, as 

 two to three, their respective yields are nearly as 

 live to four ; in the free access of sun and air dur- 

 ing growth ; and in the less liability of the crop to 

 ' lodge' flat at the root. But it has one disadvan- 

 tage : an ordinary drill cannot sow more than 10 to 

 12 acres per day, and employs more men and horses 

 than the broadcast-machine. From 2 to 3 bushels 

 of seed per acre suffices with the drill, whereas 

 from 3 to 4 is necessary with the broadcast-machine, 

 and from 5 to 6 bushels with the hand. The great 

 saving of seed and other advantages thus fully 

 atone for the extra work involved by the drill. 

 Many kinds of grain-drills are in use in the United 

 States ; the drill for maize being a special modi- 

 fication of these. 



The third method of machine-sowing, by dib- 

 bling, is employed chiefly on the light soils in the 

 south of England, and now even there not gener- 

 ally, at least in the case of cereals, so that a minute 

 description of the machines by which the operation 

 is effected is unnecessary. Suffice it to mention 

 that dibbling^ only requires about one-third of the 

 seed which is necessary in drilling, and presents 

 still greater opportunities for weeding and stirring 

 the soil in the early stages of growth, but is 

 attended with various important defects, and is 

 more expensive. 



When a cereal crop is to be followed by grass the 

 grass seeds are sown a few days, perhaps even a 

 week or two, after the other crop by a broadcast- 

 machine or by the hand. 



Beans. The sowing of this crop (see BEAN) is 

 performed by means of the bean-barrow, a machine 

 the same in structure as the drilling-machine for 

 corn, but wanting the coulters, and having only 

 three tubes, through which the seeds fall. Peas are 

 frequently sown along with beans, the latter acting 

 as a support to the former, and I lie two together 

 better preventing the growth of weeds. The hand 

 is also sometimes adopted. 



Turnips. For this crop the ground must be 

 more thoroughly cleaned and broken down than 

 for any other ; after which if the drill-system is 

 pureued it is formed into drills from 26 to 29 

 inches apart, which are then supplied with manure, 

 and covered with the drill-plough, splitting the 

 original drills. The new ridges thus formed being 

 directly above the manure, the seeds are sown on 

 the top of each ridge by means of the turnip- 

 drill. This machine has, instead of a seed-box of 

 the ordinary form, two tin or tinned-iron barrels, 



Iilaced on a spindle. Each cylinder has a row of 

 loles round its middle circumference, the row lieing 

 covered by a circular sliding collar of thin metal, 

 perforated with corresponding holes. Each seed- 

 1>ox has its corresponding seed- tube and hollow 

 coulter, as in the corn-drill ; but the turnip-machine 

 has in addition a roller in front of the coulters for 

 compressing the crests of the ridges, and some 

 machines have two light rollers attached behind 

 which slightly compress the earth raised by the 

 coulters and cover the seeds. In the southern 

 counties of England a different form of machine 

 is used, one which sows the seed in rows on the 

 Hni surface, and perhaps at the same time drops 

 artificial manure, or waters the seed-bed, or both. 



Sow-tllistic (Sonehus), a genus of plants of 

 the natural order Compusita-, sub-order ('ichonu-e.-r. 

 The Common Sow-thistle (S. oleraceits) abounds 

 in Britain and in most parts of Europe as a weed 

 in gardens and cultivated fields. It is an annual 

 plant, delighting in rich soils, grows to the height 

 of 2 or 3 feet, with somewhat branching stem, and 

 small yellow (lowers in corymbs. The tender tops 

 and leaves are much used in the north of Europe 

 as greens. It is a favourite food with hares and 

 rabbits, is eaten by swine, sheep, and goats, but 



