673 



DRILL. 



DRILLING. 



674 



after which it descends on the under side of the frame to be refilled. 

 In the new edition of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica," is a long article 

 upon ' Dredging,' illustrated by very detailed engravings and descrip- 

 tions of a large steam dredging-machine, in which the peculiarities 

 required in the construction of steam-engines for such use are minutely 

 explained. 



DRILL. A tool used by artificers in wood, stone, or metal, for the 

 purpose of boring holes, by means of a sharp chisel, to which a rotary 

 motion is communicated either through a handle cranked so as to 

 allow the power of the workman to be applied directly ; or through a 

 cord, which being moved horizontally backwards and forwards causes 

 the vertical chisel to revolve alternately in the direction of the move- 

 ment. The former class of drills having usually a moveable stock or 

 handle, are known by the name of stock-drills ; the drills which are 

 driven by horizontal cords are known by the name of bow or Jtddle 

 drills. In machinery and engineering works the drills are almost 

 always driven by the gearing of the factory. The chisel end of the 

 drill has a sharp projecting point in the centre ; and the two halves, 

 respectively on the sides of this point, are made with their cutting 

 edges in opposite directions. 



AVhen drills attain considerable dimensions, it is necessary to modify 

 their forms, and they then pass into the category of boring tools. 



DRILL, the course of instruction in which the soldier is taught the 

 use of arms and the practice of military evolutions. 



DRILL HUSBANDRY. [DRILLING.] 



DRILLING is a mode of sowing by which the seed is deposited in 

 regular equidistant rows, at such a depth as each kind requires for its 

 most perfect vegetation. It has been practised by gardeners from 

 time immemorial, and from the garden it has gradually extended to 

 the field. In those countries where maize or Indian corn is extensively 

 cultivated the seed is always deposited in rows ; and during the growth 

 of the plants the soil in the intervals is repeatedly hoed and stirred to 

 a considerable depth, as is likewise the practice in vineyards. This 

 cultivation not only keeps the land free from weeds, but by allowing 

 the dews and the influence of the atmosphere to penetrate into the 

 earth, greatly encourages the vegetation and growth of the plants. 



It was no doubt from observing the effect produced by stirring the 

 goil that Jethro Tull and his followers adopted the theory, that finely- 

 divided earth formed the chief food of plants ; and this led to the 

 adoption of the row culture for every species of plant, and horse-hoeing 

 the intervals, from which the practice obtained the name of the horse- 

 hoeing husbandry. This was at one time thought so important a 

 discovery as to be called the new husbandry, which was expected by 

 its most zealous supporters entirely to supersede the old methods. 



The system of Tull, as properly understood, has been long proved to 

 have been founded on erroneous principles. But the advantage of 

 sowing the seed in rows or drills has stood the test of experience ; and 



the drill husbandry, by combining the advantages of continued tillage 

 with those of manure and a judicious rotation of crops, is a decided 

 improvement on the old methods of sowing all seeds broad-cast. The 

 crops which are now most generally drilled are potatoes, turnips, 

 beans, peas, beet-root, cole-seed, and carrots ; and in general all plants 

 which require room to spread, whether above or under the ground. 

 The distance between the rows in these crops is generally such as to 

 allow the use of a light plough or horse-hoe to be drawn by a horse 

 between them without endangering the growing plants. The most 

 common distance is twenty-seven inches, where the row culture is 

 practised in its greatest perfection, which is in the north of England 

 and in Scotland. The Northumberland mode of cultivating turnips, 

 which is adopted by all farmers in moist climates, and seems to have 

 decided advantages, consists in placing the manure in rows immediately 

 under the line in which the seed is to be drilled, and keeping the 

 intervals in a mellow and pulverised state by repeated stirring. In 

 this mode of sowing, the seeds vegetate more rapidly, and are sooner 

 out of danger from the fly, and the crop is more certain as well as 

 heavier. Should the turnips fail, which with every precaution will 

 sometimes happen, the land has had the benefit of a complete fallow, 

 and is well prepared for any other crop. 



The instrument used for sowing turnips and other seeds in single 

 rows is sometimes a small light wheel-barrow, which a man pushes 

 before him ; hence called a drill-barrow. It has a box in which the 

 seed is put, with a slide to regulate the quantity. This is allowed to 

 fall on a wooden or metal cylinder below. In the circumference of 

 this cylinder are several cavities where the seed lodges, and is earned 

 down into a tin funnel below ; the remainder is prevented from falling 

 through by small brushes in which the cylinder turns. The motion is 

 communicated from the wheel which runs on the ground to the 

 cylinder by means of a chain on two pullies placed on the axes of the 

 wheel and cylinder. 



The improved Northumberland drill, of which a figure is annexed, 

 is a more perfect as well as more complicated instrument. It is sup- 

 ported on two wheels, and drawn by a horse. It sows ground bones, 

 ashes, rape-cake, or any other dry manure at the same time with the 

 seed. The body of the drill consists of two boxes, A and B, divided by 

 a partition between them, and each again divided into two by another 

 partition at right-angles to the first. In the box A is put the manure, 

 in B the seed. Iron slides are fixed in each compartment to regulate 

 the supply of seed or manure. In the lower part of the boxes, and 

 just before the opening, which is regulated by the slides, are two 

 cylinders, one for the box A and another for B. On the cylinder in A 

 are fixed shallow cups with short stems, which dip in the bones and 

 carry a certain quantity over the cylinder as it turns, which falling in 

 the funnels K K is deposited in the furrows made by the coulters H H. 

 The cy Under in the box B has projecting pieces of iron, with a small 



Northumberland Turnip Drill, drawn from one manufactured by Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, Winiley Street, Oxford Street, London. 



cavity in each near the end, which takes up a very small quantity of 

 seed, and discharges it in the same manner into the two funnels K K. 

 On the axis of the wheel E U a toothed wheel, which turns a small 

 wheel D on the axis of the cylinder in A, and this turns another wheel 

 c on th*e axis of the cylinder in B. As these two wheels move towards 

 each other, the two cylinders turn in contrary directions, which is a 

 convenience in throwing the seed and the manure into the funnels K K 

 at the same time. The wheel F may be lifted up by means of a lever 

 o, and then the cylinders do not revolve. There are various other 

 ARTS AXD SCI. DIV. VOL. III. 



contrivances which cannot well be explained without a more detailed 

 figure of the different parts. 



In some districts there is still a prejudice against the use of the 

 drill even for turnips. On the whole, however, drilling in the 

 Northumberland method seems to be the best practice, and is adopted 

 very generally by all scientific farmers. 



On light friable soils, drilling the seed is very generally adopted. 

 There is a neatness in the appearance which recommends it to the eye ; 

 and machines have been so improved, that the seed is sown more 



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