PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 161 



clinibing slu'ub. Ladies in want of these or otlicrs that vnny be named 

 hereafter, must send stamped envelopes to the secretary, J. W. Chambers, 

 and he will ghidly distribute these and any other seeds that may be put 

 into his hands for that purpose ; and it is to bo hoped that those who have 

 puoh thinj^^s to spare will take this method of putting tliem into the hands 

 of those who will receive them with thankfulness. 



Evans' Rotary Cultevator. 



Three of the committee appointed November 1, to examine the working 

 of Evans' Rotary Cultivator, at Flatlands, Long Island, attended to that 

 duty, to wit : John G. Bergen, Wm. S. Carpenter and Solon Robinson, all 

 practical farmers, who have had repeated opportunities of witnessing the 

 operation of this machine, in previous years, as well as others designed to 

 dig up the soil as a substitute for the [)low, or other contrivances for ren- 

 dering the surface pulverous and in fine condition for seeding with any 

 crop. 



The spot where the trial was made was upon the farm of David W. Wet- 

 more, near the mill-pond, in Flatlands, where the soil is of that character 

 of loam that makes it pack together very firmly after it has been lying 

 some time exposed to the action of the sun and rains. The land had been 

 well prepared by plowing and harrowing in July for a turnip crop, which 

 had entirely failed in consequence of drouth and grasshoppers. Con- 

 sequently it was very compact and level, and required the strength of four 

 horses to work the machine to its full capacity, which is eight inches deep 

 and thirty inches wide. 



The njachine is made with steel teeth about an inch wide, like those of 

 an ordinary spading fork, which are set, two by two, on a flexible chain 

 band, working over rollers; and a machine may be made with two or more 

 of these chains ; two cutting twenty inches wide, and three thirty inches, 

 and so on. The one that we saw at work had three chains and six rows of 

 teeth, and these, with the rollers, levers, etc., for regulating the work, are 

 mounted upon a pair of wheels, are about two feet high, and the whole, 

 with a seat for the driver, occupies just about as much room, and is of 

 about the same weight as a Buckeye mowing machine, minus the cutter- 

 bar. 



Upon hard ground, like that at Flatlands, it is necessary for the driver 

 to ride, or carry weight, to keep the teeth in and steady. 



In moving trom place to place, the teeth are lifted from the ground, and 

 the whole weight then rests upon the wheels. When let down to fall 

 work, the wheels are lifted, and the whole weight of the machine and 

 driver, say eight or ten hundred pounds, rests upon the teeth to force them 

 int(» the ground ; and the rollers are so arranged that the teeth strike as 

 they revolve upon the points and are forced almost perpendicularly into 

 the earth, to whatever depth they are set for, from one to eight inches. If 

 the motion of the team is rapid, the action of the teeth upon the earth, as 

 they come around the hind roller, by a short, sharp leverage, is to throw 

 it up in a spray, like the hay behind a tedding machine. In a small way, 

 the action of the dirt is pretty well represented by an active dog, digging 

 in loose earth, and throwing it up behind him. Of course, no other known 



[Am. Ixst.] K 



