Book IV. 



HAND MACHINES. 



.387 



commended in any particular case will depend on the texture of the soil ; one which 

 would answer w 11 in a soft soil or sand might not succeed in a stony or loamy soil. 

 As the fashions of drills are continually changing, we advise intending purchasers to 

 describe their soil and kind of culture, as whether raised or flat drilling, &c., to a 

 respectable implement-maker, and try the kind he recommends. In the mean time we 

 submit a few of the established forms. 



2574. The bean or potato dibbling 

 machine i Jig. 283.) consists of a single 

 wheel, set with dibber points, which 

 may be placed wider or closer at 

 pleasure. It is pushed along by one 

 man, and succeeds on friable soils, but 

 cannot be depended on when the sur- 

 face is rough or tenacious. Potato sets 

 to be planted after this machine should 

 be cut with the improved scoop (2494.). 



2575. The common hand drill-barrow (Jig. 284.) consists of a frame and wheel 



somewhat similar to that of a common 

 barrow, with a hopper attached to con- 

 tain the seed. It is used for the pur- 

 pose of sowing horse-beans, turnips, and 

 similar seeds, upon small ridges. In 

 using it, the labourer for the most part 

 wheels it before him, the seed being 

 afterwards covered by means of a slight 

 harrow, or sometimes by a shallow 

 furrow. 



2576. The broadcast hand-drill (Jig. 285.) is chiefly used for sowing clover or other 

 small seeds, with or without grass seeds. The operation, however, is much more fre- 



quently performed by hand. Broadcast sowing by machinery drawn by horses or cattle, 

 however, may be advantageously adopted on farms of the largest size, and where the 

 soil is uniform in surface, in moisture, and in richness. 



2577. Coggins's dibbling-machine (Jig. 2S6.) was invented in 1827, and appears very 

 ingeniously contrived. The Me- 

 chanism is to be worked by the foot 

 of the operator. The machine runs 

 on wheels, and there are two conical 

 dibbling irons, one larger than the 

 other. These are ranged in a line 

 with the delivering funnel of the 

 drill, and at such distances apart as 

 may be considered proper for dis- 

 charging the seeds. A hopper (a) 

 contains the seed, and such earthy 

 materials as bone dust, or other 

 manure in powder, as may be found 

 necessary to deposit with the seed. 

 There is a funnel (b) through which 

 the seeds and manure are passed ; 

 and the conical dibbling iron (c) is 

 worked by a handle (d). This dib- 

 bling iron and its handle are con- 

 nected by two levers, of which the ^<^ 

 lower (e) hangs to the axle of the ^ 

 principal running wheel, and has at its front extremity a small cone (/), intended as a 

 marker. There is an upper lever (g) which works the axle (h) of the cylinder, within 



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