CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



load which could with the greatest ease be drawn 

 by one horse in a less ponderous machine. 



Every well-conducted farm establishment is 

 now, or ought to be, provided with a variety of 

 small but useful machines for slicing turnips or 

 potatoes, chopping hay or pease straw, bruising 

 beans, pease, or oats, weighing-machine, &c. all 

 which, of the newest construction, are to be seen 

 at the establishments of agricultural implement- 

 makers. Utensils for cooking food for cattle, 

 dairy utensils, and tools for manual labour, need 

 not here be particularised. 



SOWING. 



In Scotland, the greater part of the cereals are 

 sown broadcast In England, on the other hand, 

 they are frequently sown by drilling-machines ; 

 indeed, in the eastern counties, they are almost 

 all sown by machinery. Experience has hitherto 

 seemed to shew that the benefits of drilling are 

 more marked in poor soils than in rich, on light 

 than heavy land, in dry climates than in moist 



At the same time, it was not to be expected 

 that drilling by machines should be so much 

 followed in Scotland, owing to the hilly and 

 irregular nature of its surface. It gained a footing 

 however, pretty early in East Lothian, and we 

 believe that the practice is still slowly extending. 



Drilling is less advantageous in the case of late- 

 sown spring crops, which grow up more rapidly, 

 and keep down weeds. Up to a comparatively 

 recent period, late sowing of cereals was very 

 common in Scotland, and experiments on the 

 drilling of these crops were not generally favour- 

 able. It is attended with greater benefits in early- 

 sown spring crops, such as wheat and chevalier 

 barley. On light and inferior soils, it is almost 

 essential to the raising of these crops with any 

 degree of certainty. This also applies to autumn- 

 sown wheat on such soils. 



The drilling of cereals effects a saving of seed, 

 for if they are sown broadcast, more grain must 

 be used, to prevent weeds springing up. In 

 drilling, also, the seeds are deposited at an equal 

 depth, and fewer of them are destroyed. When 

 drilling has been adopted in Scotland, it has no 

 doubt been customary to sow too much seed, a 

 practice that should be avoided, as the crowding 

 of the plants in rows stunts their growth, and 

 renders the crops less productive. But the effects 

 of using too little seed must likewise be guarded 

 against, as this prolongs the life of the plants, 

 causing them to tiller and produce more vascular 

 stems, which are longer in ripening, and the 

 quality of grain is inferior. Late-sown spring 

 crops, therefore, should have a more liberal quan- 

 tity of seed than early. On land in good con- 

 dition, it is safer to sow two bushels of barley to 

 the acre in the early part of March, than three by 

 the middle of May. 



It is also of importance to keep in mind that 

 the land requires to be more carefully prepared in 

 spring, when the grain is drilled. The roots of 

 the plants being nearer to the surface, are more 

 liable to be influenced by the drought, unless the 

 comminution of the soil is carefully accomplished. 



There are various kinds of machines for sowing 

 grain. The English implement -makers have 

 brought them to far more perfection than the 

 Scotch. In the English machines, the seed is 



524 



lifted from the box by cups attached to a barrel 

 driven from the axle of the large wheels. The 

 cups, emptying themselves into small hoppers 

 communicating with the coulters by tubes, seem 

 to be best adapted for effecting a regular flow of 

 seed. The coulters, also, which form a bed for 

 the seed, being jointed, move up and down, and 

 permit of a uniform pressure, and, consequently, 

 of an equality of depth at which the seed is de- 

 posited. The following sketch represents one of 

 Garrett's corn-drills, which are in general use in 

 the eastern counties of England. 



Fig. 13. Garrett's Corn-drill. 



One of the most important advantages of drilling 

 cereals is the facility which it affords for keeping 

 the crops free from annual weeds. In fact, the 

 farmer has a much greater command over his 

 crop when it is drilled than when it is sown broad- 

 cast Weeds can be much more cheaply extir- 

 pated by the hoe than by pulling them by the 

 hand. The great improvements that have recently 

 been made in horse-hoes have rendered these 

 implements of great service to the cleaning of 

 drilled grain - crops. The following engraving 



Fig. 14. Garrett's Horse-hoe. 



represents Garrett's horse-hoe, which, though 

 somewhat heavy, is otherwise a most efficient 

 implement 



DRAINAGE. 



The vast amount of capital which has been 

 expended in drainage within a quarter of a century, 

 attests its utility and necessity. Before the intro- 

 duction of furrow-draining, stiff and tenacious 

 clays were of comparatively little value. They 

 were cultivated at much expenditure of labour, 

 and the crops which grew upon them were in- 

 fluenced to a great extent by the variations of the 

 seasons. 



Drainage by open ditches was no doubt the 

 first mode of freeing land from superfluous water. 

 The Roman agricultural writers mention the good 

 results arising from covered drains, formed of 

 wood and other substances, which served so far 

 to render the land dry. More than a century ago, 



