No. 4.] EVOLUTION OF FARM MACHINES. 253 



made his first machine about 1864, for a friend, who was the 

 pioneer onion grower of Sunderland, and a former member 

 of this Board. It was a combination drill and cultivator. 

 The distribution of seeds was regulated by a dial plate, with 

 different-sized openings for different varieties of seeds, placed 

 under the seed box, in which was placed an agitator kept 

 in motion by a rod acted upon by the forward wheel. A 

 later machine of this type is the Mathews drill. Their chief 

 fault is found in the fact that they offer little chance of ad- 

 justment for different-sized seed of the same variety. Supe- 

 rior in this respect are some of the later drills, with an 

 adjustable opening, for all varieties of seeds. Another im- 

 provement is a forced feed gear. The Southport double row 

 drill, with adjustable revolving cups, is a popular onion 

 sower. 



Weeders and Cultivators. 



The weeder is of very recent introduction, and I have yet 

 to see any marked good resulting from its use. I believe 

 that more efficient work can be done with the two-horse, 

 spring-tooth cultivator, or any of the best single cultivators, 

 by starting work as soon as possible after planting, and con- 

 tinuing the operation as often as possible until the crop is 

 well advanced. The cultivator is a simple implement, and 

 admits of very little change of the principle on which it is 

 operated^ The cultivators we have at present penetrate the 

 soil and take hold of tough pieces of witch grass better than 

 the ones used a few years ago, on account of the better con- 

 struction of the teeth. Improvement has also been made in 

 regard to convenient means of adjustment. 



Mowers and Reapers. 

 In a recent article in the New York " Herald" in regard 

 to progress made in the century relating to agriculture, it is 

 said the most important invention of the century is the har- 

 vester. In a recent article in " McClure's Magazine" Mr. 

 Ray Stannard Baker says : ' ' With June the wheat harvest 

 in the United States begins in earnest, and from that time 

 until the first of September there is not an hour of daylight 

 when the click of the harvester is not heard." The credit 

 for the invention of the harvester belongs to two farmer boys 



