192 FARM MACHINERY 



results can be obtained from eight loads of manure to 

 the acre as twice that number. It is impossible to dis- 

 tribute and spread by hand in as light a distribution as 

 by the spreader. The manure is thoroughly pulverized 

 and not spread in large bunches, which become fire-fanged 

 and of little value as a fertilizer. It is a conservative 

 statement that the manure spreader will make a given 

 amount of manure cover twice the ground which may be 

 covered with hand spreading. Since a light distribution 

 may be secured, it can be applied as a top dressing to 

 growing crops, such as hay and pasture, without smother- 

 ing the crop. The manure spreader also saves labor. It 

 is capable of doing the work of five men in spreading 

 manure. With a manure loader or a power fork it is 

 possible to handle a large amount of manure in a short 

 time. 



268. Development. The first attempts at the development of 

 a machine for automatically spreading fertilizer were contem- 

 poraneous with a machine for planting or seeding. In 1830 two 

 brothers, by the name of Krause, of Pennsylvania, patented a 

 machine for distributing plaster or other dry fertilizer. This 

 machine consisted of a cart with a bottom sloping to the rear, 

 where a transverse opening was provided with a roller under- 

 neath. This roller was driven by a belt passed around one of 

 the wheel hubs. It fed the fertilizer through the opening. 



The first apron machine was invented by J. K. Holland, of 

 North Carolina, in 1850. The endless apron was attached to 

 a rear end board and passed over a bed of rollers and around 

 a shaft driven by suitable gearing at the front end of the cart. 

 After the box had been filled with fertilizer and the apron put 

 in gear, it drew the fertilizer to the front and caused it to drop 

 little by little over the front end. 



The first spreader of the wagon type was produced by J. H. 

 Stevens, of New York, in 1865. His machine had an apron which 

 was driven rearward by suitable gearing to discharge the load 

 and was cranked back into position for a new load. The later 

 machines were provided with vibrating forks at the rear enct 



