108 



TIIE GENESEE FARMER. 



EOLLEBS AND THUB USES. 



OuE engraving shows an English roller of the 

 latest and most improved construction. The rollers, 

 two in number, are hollow cylinders of cast iron, 

 moving freely on one common axle. The side 

 portions of the framework, a, b, c, are also of iron; 

 the rest of the framework and the shafts are of 

 wood. The advantage of having a roller con- 

 structed in two or more pieces, is that it has the 

 effect -of diminishing that tendency to rub over the 



The above English cast-iron roller will cost aboui 

 $30 — perhaps more. In this country, where wooe 

 can be had almost for qothing, and iron is expensive^ 

 a good smooth log of white oak, or any tough 

 hard wood, fitted with iron gudgeons, and attache* 

 to a framework somewhat similar to that on th 

 roller shown in our engraving, will be fdund ti 

 answer sufficiently for all ordinary farm purpose; 

 and will cost but the labor of making it, which, i 

 done by a mechanic, would be about $5. 



IMPROVED ENGLISH CAST-IRO\ ROLLER. 



surface, and tear up the young plants at the turning 

 points of the field, which is the great fault of the 

 roller as commonly made — in one entire piece. The 

 value of this roller lies solely in its power of 

 crushing and compressing the soil. 



The further division of these cylinders into many 

 pieces, so that the implement became a series of 

 wheels alongside of one another, each having an 

 independent motion, with washers between, t.ud 

 each wheel having a serrated edge, as shown in fig. 

 2, and as exemplified in Crossku.i,''s clod-crusher, 

 is the nearest ai)proaoh to perfection to which the 

 roller has yet attained. 



Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 



In this form of the implement is united the 

 crushing effect of mere weight, with the action of 

 a harrow in separating the clods into smaller por- 

 tions. It is sc constructed that the axle is smaller 

 than the slot through which it passes (as shown in 

 fig, 3), so that any one wheel can drop below the 

 level of the others; a great advantage in passing 

 over imeven ground, as thereby no portion of the 

 soil that the implement has passed over can remain 

 untouched. 



It is a point of some importance that the diamet*- 

 of the roller should be increased in proportion I 

 the weight; not that anything is gained thereby i 

 regards its crushing effect on the soil, but becaus 

 the larger the diameter, the easier it is for the tea 

 to draw, and the less liable the roller is to slide ov( 

 the ground and smooth the surface by burying tl 

 clods instead of crushing them. A roller 6 feet lor 

 and 3 feet in diameter is preferable to one of tl 

 same weight, 10 feet long and 18 inches in diamete 



Another point is, that, for farm work, the roll 

 should be heavy enough to require two horses 

 draw it, and they should be worked abreast rath 

 than in the English tandem fashion ; as, indepen 

 ently of the loss of power in this case, the tram' 

 ling of two horses in the same track makes j 

 impression on the soil that is to be by all mea 

 avoided. To this end, it is better to construct tl 

 framework with a pole instead of the shafts, 

 shown in our cut. 



There are also rollers of other forms of constru 

 tion, viz: the spiked roller, formed by insertii 

 several rows of spikes in a common hard-wo( 

 roller — this is used for pulverizing stiff soils 

 summer fallowing; the concave or scalloped rolL 

 adapted to the form of ridges, and . used for coi 

 pressing the drills of carrots, turnips and mang 

 wurzel, and to press the soil to the manure that h 

 been left under the drills. It is sometimes use 

 after the seed has been dropped by hand or a see 

 sower, and for this purpose it is often attached to 

 turnip drill. 



