SOWING, AND SOWING MACHINES. 



er, and so to ailapt his inachinory to 

 tlie (Irilliiifj ami dibbliiij; of seed upon 

 land previously laid flat and well 

 prepared, that every field, however 

 extensive, should present the neat- 

 ness and regularity of a highly fin- 

 ished garden. 



" ' Tlic distinguishing peculiarities 

 of this remarkable piece of mecha- 

 nism are the arrangements for the 

 dibbles to hore. holes, causing them to 

 be perpendicular and truly cylindri- 

 cal, and the apparatus forgiving cer- 

 tainty to the valves in receiving and 

 delivering the manure.' 



" In order to render the above high- 

 ly commendatory report of the judges 

 more intelligible to those who have 

 not seen this implement, we will add 

 a slight diagram, to explain the most 

 essential parts : 



" A G B is a lever, whose fulcrum 

 is at A ; B G, the rod of the dibble 

 M, which turns on it by means of a 



socket ; C D E is the rod which com- 

 municatea the motion to the lever 

 A C B, by means of the crank L E, 

 moved by the machinery. A: D is a 

 rod connecting the crank with the 

 rod of the dibble, and having a slit or 

 cheeks in which this rod moves. F 

 is the spring which keeps the rod in 

 its place when the dibble is out of the 

 ground, a i is an iron plate with a 

 slit or cheeks to keep the dibble from 

 swerving from the line of the furrow 

 made by the shoe, c is a thin pin 

 projecting upward from this plate, 

 and bent at its upper end. This pin 

 meets one of four arms projecting 

 horizontally from the shank of the 

 dibble whenever it descends into the 

 ground ; and as it proceeds with the 

 carriage while the dibble is at rest, 

 it gives this a motion round its rod 

 to the extent of a quarter of a circle. 

 When the rod rises, it clears the 

 arms from the pin, which, at the next 



descent, meets with another arm ; 

 and thus a complete revolution is ef- 

 fected in four descents of the dibble. 

 " H is the vessel which contains 

 the seed. The valve consists of a 

 cylinder, d, with a cavity sufficient 

 to receive the required number of 

 seeds to be deposited in each hole, 

 a brush to remove any superfluous 

 seeds, and a recipient, V, in the form 

 of a quadrant, in which they diop 

 when the cylinder is suddenly turned 

 half round on its axis. This is ef- 

 fected by a small crank fixed to the 

 axis, and connected by a rod r with 

 V42 



the quadrant V. The quadrant it- 

 self moves a quarter round its centre 

 X by means of a rod q, which con- 

 nects it with the dibble, or with the 

 crank when the dibble is not used ; 

 and the seed is dropped into the dib- 

 ble hole or the furrow when the 

 quadrant is pushed back in its place. 

 A rake and roller are attached to the 

 implement to complete the operation. 

 " This may give some idea of this 

 new machine, and if it answer the 

 expectations of the inventor, it will 

 cause a great saving in the seed and 

 labour of sowing, while it will de- 



