DRILL-MACHINES. 



DRILL-MACHINES. 



pal obstacle to their general introduction, as to 

 import a good one costs between $150 and 

 $200. 



An admirable drill for sowing wheat has 

 been invented and patented by Moses Pennock 

 and son Samuel, of Kennett Square, Chester 

 county, Pennsylvania. (See Plate 14, fig. 5.) 

 It has been used for several years in the south- 

 ern parts of Pennsylvania and adjoining spates, 

 and the greatest satisfaction has been expressed 

 for its performance. 



Pennock's drill is capable of sowing 8 acres 

 of wheat, or planting 15 acres of Indian corn, 

 per day. The wheat is placed in boxes, con- 

 necting with sowing tubes which penetrate 

 into the ground, scattering it in rows 9 inches 

 apart, and covering about an average depth 

 of 2 inches. If one or more of the tubes 

 comes in contact with a stone, root, or other 

 obstacle beneath the surface, a small chain to 

 which it is attached breaks a wooden peg, and 

 thus saves the machine from any serious 

 injury, the detention being only a few seconds 

 when pegs are kept on hand. The prepara- 

 tion of the ground is similar to that adopted in 

 the broad-cast method. The machine is drawn 

 with great ease by one horse, and requires but 

 one attendant, in sowing wheat. For every 

 bushel sown by hand in the ordinary way, the 

 drill saves from 8 to 12 quarts. The machine 

 is easily managed and not liable to get out of 

 order. Besides covering the wheat much more 

 effectually than can be done by the harrow, it 

 raises ridges about 3 inches high on each side 

 of the tubes. These ridges crumble down by 

 the action of the frost and rains, and thus 

 cover the young plants and prevent them from 

 being thrown out during the freezing and thaw- 

 ing of the ground and killed, as so commonly 

 occurs in the winters of the United States. 

 Samuel Pennock, the junior inventor, has for 

 several years been using the drill extensively 

 in putting in crop*. His usual charge, for 

 the use of a machine, including the horse and 

 his own services, is $4 per day, or 50 cents 

 per acre. When wheat sells for $1,25 or $1,50 

 per bushel, the seed saved will pay all the 

 expense of drilling, (especially when the 

 farmer owns the drill), the crop being placed 

 in a far better condition than can be effected 

 by the broad-cast method, as will be evident 

 from a consideration of the various advan- 

 tages enumerated, and these constitute the 

 chief profit. 



When the machine is used for planting 

 Indian corn, (for which purpose it is singu- 

 larly well adapted), some of the levers are 

 thrown out of gear, leaving the remainder so 

 arranged as to strike out two rows, 4^ feet apart, 

 in which the corn is dropped at regular dis- 

 tances and covered with about 3$ inches of 

 earth, or less if desired. It may be afterwards 

 thinned, but must of course be always tilled 

 in one direction. The ground is flushed and 

 harrowed, after which rows 9 feet apart are 

 run with a plough and one horse, in which 

 rows the horse drawing the drill walks in going 

 and returning. In this way about 15 acres of 

 Indian corn may be planted in a day, and thus 

 a considerable saving of labour is effected by 

 the owner of a drill, since to plant the same 



number of acres by hand, in the usual way, 

 would require 5 hands equal to fifteen days 

 work, with the addition of a second plough to 

 run out furrows, and two droppers. Although 

 Pennock's drill costs $100, it seems evident 

 that the saving of labour in planting the corn 

 crop will more than pay the interest and wear 

 and tear of the machine, leaving none of these 

 charges to be placed against the wheat crop. 

 Persons who have watched the progress of 

 corn crops planted by the drill, and compared 

 the results with those of crops planted by hand, 

 say, that under ordinary circumstances, a gain 

 of 5 bushels per acre may be fairly credited to 

 the drilled corn. Some even go so far as to 

 say that drilling has added one-fourth to the 

 crop. The deep covering is regarded, where 

 the soil is perfectly dry, and of a light texture, 

 as a very great advantage. The corn will at 

 first appear backward, but is soon observed to 

 catch up and outstrip that which has been co- 

 vered more superficially. It is also placed 

 more out of the reach of birds, and escapes 

 injury from the cut-\corm, and heart-trorm, or, 

 as it is also called, trud-icorni. The cut-worm 

 usually commits its depredations by night, 

 taking off the plants at, or very near, the sur- 

 face of the ground, whilst by day it cuts a 

 little below the surface. Now, when corn is 

 deeply covered it admits of being topped, with- 

 out being entirely killed, and suffers little fur- 

 ther injury than retardation. 



Pennock's drill, besides sowing beans, peas, 

 and all kinds of round seeds, including ruta- 

 baga,, is, like Cooke's English drill, capable of 

 being adapted to the purposes of a horse-hoe, 

 cultivator, extirpator, and harrow, by the ad- 

 justment of hoes, harrow-teeth, &c. Besides 

 the approbation bestowed on Pennock's drill 

 by individual farmers, for some of whom they 

 have sown as much as 100 acres a season, 

 several public institutions have awarded pre- 

 miums to the inventors, among which we may 

 mention the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, 

 Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania, and Ame- 

 rican Institute of New York. 



It would be a desideratum in the United 

 States to have drills like those used in England, 

 adapted lo sowing seeds and sprinkling with 

 them at the same time some of the concen- 

 trated manures, such as bone-dust, poudrette, 

 &c. But this again, like every other addition, 

 must increase the cost, already so great an 

 obstacle. 



As yet the drill system in the United States 

 has been principally confined to sowing tur- 

 nips and beets, and sometimes Indian corn. 

 The results with many who have had good im- 

 plements and known how to use them, has 

 been a conviction of their utility and economy, 

 especially where the root culture has been ex- 

 tensively carried on. One-rowed drills are 

 almost the only kind to be met with in the 

 warehouses where agricultural implements are 

 kept for sale. 



Drill-barrows are implements furnished with 

 handles, similar to those of a wheel-barrow, 

 and designed to be propelled by hand. Among 

 these Willis's Latest Improved Seed-sower is said 

 to be the best, as it puts the seed into the 

 ground with regularity and in the best manner. 



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