Popular Science Monthly 



205 



Plowing and Pulverizing the 

 Soil in One Operation 



A ROTARY tiller which prepares 

 a seed bed without the usual 

 harrowing, disking and rolling opera- 

 tions has been invented by Guy E. 

 Lincoln, a graduate of the Minne- 

 sota Agricultural College. It is 

 somewhat similar to milling ma- 

 chines used in Europe, but it differs 

 from them in that it does its work 

 on a furrow turned with an ordinary 

 sulky plow, while most of 

 the foreign machines work 

 on the soil just as it lies 

 in the field. 



The tiller attachment con- 

 sists of a steel rotor tooth 

 set to the right of the share 

 and mold-board. The rotor 

 is geared at the top to the 

 shaft of a small gasoline 

 motor which whirls it at the 

 rate of five hundred revolu- 

 tions a minute. Thus the 

 teeth of the rotor shred and 

 tear the weeds, grass, roots, 

 fertilizer and soil into a 

 finely pulverized mass, mak- 

 ing a mellow seed bed for the sowing of 

 any crop. For use with the tractor the tiller 

 attachment can be run by the tractor power. 



The modern farmer has come to realize 

 that the fertility of the soil depends upon 

 the distribution of a goodly amount of 

 humus (rotted vegetable matter) through- 

 out the entire seed bed. Formerly this 

 humus, as surface litter, was raked up and 

 burned. Today it is returned to the soil 

 to help feed the coming crop. When it is 

 cut up, pulverized and distributed by a 

 milling machine it produces a scientifically 

 perfect seed bed. 



There is undoubtedly 

 a large place for the 

 rotary tiller in the agri- 

 cultural industry if it 

 will do work equivalent 

 to that of harrows and 

 disks at a cost not much 

 in excess of that in- 

 curred by horse-drawn 

 implements. The prin- 

 cipal drawback to till- 

 ing and milling ma- 

 chines has been the 

 expense involved in their operation and 

 breakages when encountering stones and 

 other obstructions. The tiller described 



The rotary tiller plows 

 and pulverizes the soil, 

 weeds and roots in one 

 operation, eliminating har- 

 rowing, disking and rolling 



The steel rotor tooth 

 which is set to the right 

 of the share and mold- 

 board. It is geared to the 

 shaft of a gasoline motor 



will only have to deal with stones which 

 pass over the mold-board — an important 

 fact in its favor. On the other hand, there 

 would seem to be a waste of power in raising 

 the furrow of soil several inches in the air in 

 order to mill it. Some tillers work on the 

 soil without raising it at all. 



COTTON SOAKED IN 

 DISINFECTANT 



The handle of the brush folds 

 over the bristles and keeps it 

 germ-proof with disinfectant 



A Water-Tight Holder and Sterilizer 

 for the Toothbrush 



THE toothbrush il- 

 lustrated is made 

 with a folding handle, 

 somewhat like that of a 

 familiar type of pocket 

 comb. But the tooth- 

 brush handle does more 

 than fold over the bristles 

 of the brush. It forms a 

 receptacle for a disinfectant 

 which will keep the brush 

 perfectly sterilized and an- 

 tiseptically clean until it is 

 ready for use again. When 

 the brush is clamped in its 

 hollow handle it may be 

 carried in the pocket, if necessary, in 

 perfect safety, without danger of soiling 

 or dampening the pocket. 



