PLOUGHS.] 



IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY [potato-digqees. 



upon which are placed four paring ploughs in 

 succession; behind each ploughshare is a 

 rotary digger; as the plough turns the soil, 

 the digger, revolving rapidly, thoroughly pul- 

 verises it, and it is at once made into a seed- 

 bed. The machine is worked by a cogged 

 wheel.— Mr. Halkett's is known as the guide- 

 way system of steam-cultivation ; in order to 

 adapt it, rails must first be laid down. The 

 machine consists of a large frame running 

 on the rails, and drawn by a steam-engine ; to 

 this framework are attached all the imple- 

 ments employed in the cultivation of the soil ; 

 and there are arrangements by which labourers 

 can work upon the frame. The system is 

 complete in itself, and, in certain soil and 

 localities, might be made use of to advantage. — 

 These several implements indicate the different 

 -plans that have been invented ; but they are 

 all worked by portable steam-engines acting 

 upon wire ropes, by means of which the 

 frames themselves are drawn to and fro. 

 Besides the general advantages which must 

 arise from the establishment of steam-plough- 

 ing, there is this especial one — that lands, 

 whether heavy or light, can be tilled in un- 

 favourable seasons, when it would be impos- 

 sible to use horse labour. This principal 

 process of cultivation is thus rendered more 

 certain, and less dependent on the changes 

 4ind chances of the weather. To descend from 

 generals to particulars, we may instance a two- 

 wheeled general-purpose plough, invented and 

 improved by William Busby, of Newton-le- 

 Willows, and manufactured by the Busby 

 Implement Company. It received the award 

 of the council medal at the Great Exhibition 

 in 1851 ; a first-class medal at the Paris 

 Exhibition; also six prizes from the Eoyal 

 Agricultural Society of England in eight years ; 

 £10 at the Eotherham meeting, 1856 ; and a 

 prize at Warwick, 1860. Its price is £4 4s. ; 

 steel breast clasp chain and weight, 16s. extra. 

 Price, £5 complete. — The same company have 

 also a new implement, which is called a com- 

 bined plough and presser, invented by Thomas 

 Ilarrison, foreman to the Rev. W. F, Wharton, 

 Banuingham Rectory, and J. Gr. Harrison, 

 Kirby Ravensworth, Yorkshire. ' It completes 

 the ploughing and pressing the seed-furrow 

 at one operation, saving much labour at seed- 

 time, and requiring little, if any, more horse- 

 916 



power than the ordinary plough. The 

 price of the plough is £3 15s. ; presser, 40s. 

 extra. The pressing plate wheel may be 

 readily attached to any plough. Price, £5 15s., 

 combined. — Messrs. Page and Co. have a 

 double-breast or moulding plough, for earth- 

 ing-up or forming ridges or bouts for turnips, 

 potatoes, mangold, &c., or for striking water- 

 furrows. The breasts are made of steel, and 

 can be expanded or contracted, as required. 

 The plough is also easily convertible into a 

 horse- hoe, by merely removing the breasts 

 and attaching a set of hoes. The price Is 75s. ; 

 with one wheel, 70s. ; two wheels, 75s. ; marker 

 to regulate the width of ridges, 7s. 6^. extra ; 

 and horse-hoes, 10s. extra. — Another, similarly 

 constructed, but adapted for the use of a small 

 horse or pony. Price, with one wheel, £2 15s. 

 — Another combined moulding plough, horse- 

 hoe, and stirrer. This is, perhaps, one of the 

 most useful, efficient, and economical com- 

 bined implements ever introduced, it being 

 adapted for three superior implements, and 

 easily and simply arranged for transition into 

 a one-horse hoe, a moulding or bouting 

 plough, and a five-tined expanding scuffler 

 or scarifier. This implement is especially 

 adapted for small occupiers, to whom it 

 is recommended as a valuable appendage. 

 Price, £4 10s. ; if without bouting-ploughing, 

 £3 10s. — The combined plough, drill, and har- 

 row, invented by Levi L. Sovereign, of Canada, 

 manufactured by Clubb and Smith, of 118, 

 Fenchurch-street, London, is another instance 

 of combining several implements in one. 

 The object of this implement is to complete 

 three operations by once going on the land, 

 which economises time and labour, and also 

 prevents horses compressing the soil after the 

 land is ploughed. It is so constructed as to 

 deposit the seed entirely out of the reach ot 

 birds. Any width or depth can be drilled. 

 Seed drilled by this implement in Western 

 Canada, produced far superior crops to any 

 wheat otherwise sown. Price, £25. 



POTATO-DIGGERS. 



A potato-digging plough and cultivator, in- 

 vented and improved by L. D. Owen, and 

 manufactured by Childs and Owen, of New 

 Oxford-street, London, weighs only 85 lbs. ; is 

 light of draught, and simple in its construction. 



