384 



SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. 



which slides backwards and forwards by the action of levers (g), fixed to an axis extended 



across the frame of the machine : a lever (h) is fixed upon this axis, causing a weight 



which acts upon the board (/} by means of the levers, to force or press forward the 



potatoes contained in the trough 



(c) against the cylinder, and com- 2G9 



plete the grating of them into a 



pulp. The tin-plate covering the 



cylinder is of course pierced from 



the inside outwards, and the bur 



or rough edge, left round each 



hole, forms an excellent rasping 



surface. 



2560. The chaff-cutter is used 

 for cutting hay or straw into frag- 

 ments not larger than chaflT, to 

 facilitate its consumption by cattle. 

 There are numerous forms ; one 

 of the best is that of Weir {Jig. 

 269.) J which is so formed, that in 

 case of its being accidentally 

 broken, it may be repaired by any 

 common mechanic. The pressure 

 of the straw is also capable of being regulated with great facility. f 



2561. The hay-binding machine is an invention by Beckway for weighing and binding 

 straw or hay. [Jig. 272. ) It is a very ingenious apparatus, and may be useful to retail 



farmers in the neighbourhood of 

 large towns. The apparatus, 

 with every implement necessary 

 to be used in cutting, weighing, 

 and binding, may be packed 

 together so as to form a wheel- 

 barrow. {Jig. 270.) When un- 

 packed (jig. 272.), the wlicel is 

 taken out, and the bottom of the 

 barrow (a) turned upside down 

 upon the ground as a platform, 

 (/g. 271.) The standard (6), 

 is then set up in the sockets of the underside of the barrow. The frame (c) is then 

 unfolded, and the axis of the steelyard or scalebeam (d), placed upon the standard as a 

 fulcrum, supporting the frame (c) at the 

 short end, and at the long end the coun- 



terpoising weight is suspended by a 



chain, and adjusted to the graduations 

 upon the steelyard agreeably to the quan- 

 tity of hay to be weighed. The bed of 

 the frame (c) is then fastened down to 

 the platform by means of the lever which held the wheel in the barrow- Two haybands 

 are then placed between the hooks {e e), and extended along the bed of the frame (c). 



The truss of hay is then laid upon the bed 

 of the frame (c), as shown by dotted lines, 

 and the fever or latch underneath withdrawn, 

 so as to allow the scale-beam to oscillate. 

 The proper quantity or weight of hay being 

 adjusted, the truss is bound round with the 

 haybands, which were placed under it. 

 This truss being removed, the same process 

 is followed in weighing and binding every 

 other truss, which is done without the 

 smallest delay or inconvenience ; when the 

 whole T[uantity required is bound up, the 

 apparatus is dismounted and packed toge- 

 ther in five minutes, Sisjigl 270. The re- 

 spective implements, such as the knife, fork, 

 pin, and every part of the machine, fitting 

 together upon the barrow so as to secure 

 the whole, are bound round by the chain and 

 weight, and tightly packed for conveyance. {Newton^s Journal, vol. i. p. 136.) 



