1851. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



213 



I 



ground is dry, The price varies from £18 to £20. 

 It has been in use for a great many years in Eng- 

 land, and has received many premiums and recom- 

 mendations from agricultural societies and com- 

 mittees. 



3d. Folder's Patent Draining Apparatus. — 

 Draining is one of the most important operations of 

 culture in Great Britain, where the climate is damp 

 and cold. It is expensive, too, an! therefore every 

 contrivance calculated to facilitate and cheapen it, is 

 looked upon with much interst. This Fowler's 

 patent is a most remarkable apparatus, and in the 

 exhibition attracted much attention. Few, however, 

 seemed to think that it would come into general use. 

 My own opinion is that it vvill not ; but the patentee 

 speaks confidently of its merits, and offers to contract 

 for the execution of any amount of draining with it, 

 that may be put in his hands. I hope our implement 

 makers will look into its merits ; for the draining of 

 land is here, as well as in England, both an impor- 

 tant and expensive operation. The manufacturers, 

 Messrs. Fowler fa. Fry, of Bristol, say — 



"It is now capable of executing any drainage that 

 may be required above the depth of four feet, at less 

 than half the cost of the present system, and without 

 disturbing the surface soil. 



" The engraving shows the machine just as it is 

 finishing the drain. When commencing work, the 

 plow is taken to one end of the field, and the capstan 

 is moored at the other ; the wire rope being run off 

 the drum of the capstan and attached to the plow, 

 (either singly in shallow draining or soft soils, or 

 returned round a single sheave where greater power 

 is required,) as shown in the drawing. The plug 

 and coulter are then dropped into a hole prepared for 

 them, and the pipes threaded on a rope are attached 

 to the back of the plug, the hole being sloped oflf 

 backwards to allow them to enter easily. The 

 horses are attached to the horse levers of the cap- 

 stan, and by walking in a circular course wind the 

 wire rope on to the drum, and pull the plow forward 

 with the pipes attached. When the required length 

 of drain is completed, (which may be anything under 

 225 yards,) the plow is run into another hole, and 

 the ropes on which the pipes are strung, being un- 

 hooked, is pulled out backwards, and the drain is 

 complete. As it would be inconvenient to have the 

 pipe rope in one length, it is made in pieces of fifty 

 feet each, and by a simple contrivance, as one rope 

 enters the other is attached to the end. Great care 

 and attention have been paid to the means of moving 

 the machines for commencing another drain ; and it 

 does not now occupy more than one quarter of an 

 hour from the time of finishing one drain to com- 

 mencing another. The accuracy with which the 

 pipes are laid can not be equalled by any hand work ; 

 and from the bottom being undisturbed they are 

 never liable to sink, as is sometimes the case even 

 in the best executed hand-draining. 



" By this process, not only is the cost of burying 

 the tiles reduced in many cases fifty per cent, but 

 from the quickness and neatnesss of the operation it 

 can be done at any seascm of the year, without inju- 

 ry to any short crop or interfering with the common 

 farm operations, the surface soil being untouched, 

 except at the headlands : and where the hedges are 

 low, the capstan can often be fixed in the next field. 

 In undulating or flat lands, the levels are kept, or a 

 fall insured by working the coulter up and down in 

 the body of the plow, by means of the worm and 



worm wheel, shown in the drawing, the plowman's 

 eye being guided by a try-sight balanced on the plow, 

 and a cross staff erected at the end of the field. 



|\ 



i ! 



" Several of these plows are now in constant 

 work, and though great lengths of the drains have 

 been opened in the presence of large numbers of 

 agriculturists, in no instance have tiles been found 

 incorrectly laid. 



" The quantity of draining that can be done per 

 day will vary with each particular field, but in com- 



