386 



SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. 



II 



2569. A potato-weighing machine {fig. 279.)> of a very complete description, has 

 been invented by Mr. John Smith, of Edinburgh, and is figured in the Highland 

 Societi/'s Transactions, vol. vii. pi. iii. It 

 is on the principle of the steelyard, and 

 chiefly intended for weighing grain, flour, 

 potatoes, or any other commodity usually 

 put into a bag for carriage or keep. The 

 machine is portable, of easy use, and not 

 liable to go out of order. 



2570. Ruthven's farmer's steelyard {jig. 

 280.) is well adapted for weighing and 

 readily discharging bulky commodities. It 

 consists of a longer and shorter beam, with 

 a moveable weight, to be shifted along the 

 former, and a scale suspended to the latter. 

 The longer arm, from its extremity, being 

 confined within a limited range, obviates 

 the inconvenience of jerks and long vibra- 

 tions, while an index upon it points out the 

 required weight, by a counterpoise being 

 slid backwards and forwards, till the point 

 has been found when it acts as an equiva- 

 lent. By turning a keeper fixed to the scale, one end of it is opened, turning on 



a cylindrical hinge at the top, and the con- 

 tents speedily discharged. These balances 

 may be made of any size required, either 

 to suit the purposes of the farm, or the 

 household. Their simplicity secures them 

 equally against expense of manufacture, 

 and the risk of going wrong when in use. 

 One weight only is required, the value 

 of which, as^a counterpoise, depends on its 

 distance from the centre of motion ; and it 

 is so confined upon the long arm, that, though it has a perfectly free motion over 

 all its length, it cannot escape at either extremity, and consequently can never be 

 lost, which is a great recommendation to the instrument. The simple manner in which 

 one of the ends of the tin-plate scale opens up round a- wire hinge is also very ingenious, 

 and no less calculated to render the steelyard useful when weighing flour, grain, seeds, 

 and such commodities. (High. S. Trans.) 



2571. The turnip-slicer is of different forms; the old machine works by hand, like a 

 straw-cutter of the original construction ; but a better one consists of a hopper and knives, 

 fixed upon a flywheel. {Jig. 281.) The turnips press 

 against the knife by their own weight, and a man turning 

 the wheel will cut a bushel in a minute. Gardener's 

 turnip-slicer is a highly improved form of this machine. 



2572. The turnip-chopper (Jig. 282.) is perhaps a more 

 useful implement than the turnip-slicer. It is first made 

 like the common nine-inch garden hoe, forming an oblong 

 square, with an eye to receive the handle, and from the 

 centre of the first hoe, another hoe crosses it at right 

 angles. On the reverse is a two-pronged fork, for the 

 purpose of pulling up the turnips. The turnip being 

 pulled out of the ground by the prongs, or the angles 

 of the hoe, is immediately struck with it about the 

 centre, which divides it into four; and if these four 

 pieces are not small enough, the stroke is repeated upon 

 each of the pieces until they are suflSciently reduced. 

 The two stoutish prongs on the back or reverse part of 

 the hoe, proceeding from the neck of the eye, besides their use 



281 



282 



pulling up the turnips 

 with expedition, increase the weight of 

 the hoe, which is in its favour, by 

 lessening the force necessary to split 

 the roots. 



2573. Of hand-drilling and dibbling 

 machines, and especially of the former, 

 there are a great many kinds, of various 

 degrees of merit. The sort to be re-. 



