AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 257 



it would not work on to advantage, but in good tillage land 

 it works very satisfactorily. 



Question. What is the cost of the machine? 



Mr. Ware. I think the price is seventeen dollars ; it 

 ■will last a life-time. It would be necessary to reduce Peru- 

 vian guano, somewhat, but most of the fertilizers it would 

 be safe to use as they come from the manufacturers. They 

 may be distributed with the corn and covered with earth 

 compactly. 



Mr. Field. I would say that the Ross planter is the old 

 Woodward patent. There is no patent on it now. Five or 

 six dollars would make the machine a good deal better than 

 Ross ever made it. 



Mr. . I have a Blaney planter which does the 



work well when a man is in a hurry. It has been used in 

 the valley, ten years at least. It drops fertilizers in a way 

 very similar to the one described by Mr. Ware, and better 

 than the AVoodward. I used that twenty years ago and 

 threw it aside. This Blaney's planter does its work very 

 well ; but when it begins to get loose or out of order, it will 

 not drop the number of kernels which you adjust it for. It 

 is like a great many other farming implements — before they 

 appear to be worn out they fail to do the work satisfac- 

 torily. I have one that has been in use six or seven years, 

 and when the corn comes up, it does not come up as we 

 expected. Sometimes there are three kernels and sometimes 

 four. If we adjust it for five or six, we are not sure of 

 getting the right numbier. But it works satisfactorily when 

 it is in good order, and will drop the fertilizer. As Mr. 

 Ware remarks, it would not be safe to put in the most con- 

 centrated fertilizers, because it is liable to touch the kernels 

 of corn, although it is calculated to drop it just a little way 

 from the corn so as not to hinder the germination of the 

 seed. 



Mr. Billings. For the last two years, there has been 

 sold an improvement on the Blaney planter, by using an 

 iron wheel which will not wear so much, and also by adjust- 

 ing it so that the fertilizer is dropped a little one side of the 

 seed. 



Mr. Haskell of Deerfield. There is a Sturbrid^e sower 



