ROL 



R O L 



rn a flout manner, with {hafts for one horfe, to be fixed on 

 the near fide, and hooks put in on the other fide in order 

 to have recouife to an additional horfe when it may be ne- 

 ceffary. The gudgeons or pivots fhould aft upon fmall 

 cafe-hardened friction-wheels, two to be fixed upon each 

 fide the frame ; with a fmall roller made of hard wood, 

 about nine inches long and three inches in diameter, bound 

 at each end with iron, and to be fixed to the back, part of 

 the frame, fo that both rollers may act with each other in 

 the centre wheel, which will be a means of keeping the great 

 roller Heady, and at the fame time very much diminifh the 

 draught of the implement. 



And it is obferved in the Agricultural Report of Nor- 

 folk, that Mr. Prieft of Befthorpe ufes a roller that is di- 

 vided in two parts, riling and falling in the centre, for the 

 purpofe of rolling the dopes of ridges. And that the fame 

 ufeful tool is in praftice in Suffolk by the Rev. Mr. Hill. 



In Dengey and Rochford hundreds, in the county of 

 Effex, where the wire-worm has long been fo very deftruc- 

 tive to the grain crops, an extremely heavy ltone roller is a 

 common implement on every farm ; they are made fix or 

 feven feet long, and eighteen inches, and fome more, in diame- 

 ter, weighing from one and a half to two tons. 



In Devonfhire they ufe heavy granite and moor-ftone 

 rollers with two horfes, which are frem five to eight feet in 

 length, and of proportionate diameters, for rolling wheat 

 and pafture grounds, as well as for aiding the operation of 

 feparating the fpine from the mould on the burn-bcat-lands, 

 in preparation for the former crop and turnips. 



In many other diftricts heavy ftone rollers, of the free- 

 ftone and other kinds, are preferred to all other forts for 

 tillage ufes. 



Roller, Compound. This is an implement of the roller 

 kind, conftituted of the plane or common and fpike kinds 

 united in the fame frame ; but it is capable of being ufed 

 feparately, and its weight varied according to the nature or 

 circumftances of the land. It is the ingenious invention of 

 Mr. Amos of Lincolnfhire, in which the fpike part of the 

 roller is made of a piece of oak wood, feven feet long, and 

 fifteen inches and a quarter in diameter, hooped with iron 

 at each end. The inventor advifes in conftructing it to di- 

 vide the circumference of this roller into twelve equal parts, 

 from which to draw parallel lines, one divifion oblique the 

 whole length of the roller. On the firll of thefe lines to 

 fet off two inches at each end, and divide the remainder into 

 twenty equal parts, of four inches each. On the fecond line 

 to fet off four inches at each end, and divide the remainder 

 into nineteen equal parts ; and fo of all the other lines alter- 

 nately. In every divifion to fix an iron fpike, fo that there 

 will be twenty fpikes in one row, and nineteen in the other, 

 throughout the whole circumference, making in all two 

 hundred and thirty-four fpikes. That part of the fpike 

 which projects out of the wood is four inches long, one inch 

 fquare at the circumference of the roller, and three-quarters 

 of an inch fquare at the point. The tongue, which goes 

 into the wood, is four inches long, feven-eighths of an inch 

 fquare at the circumference of the roller, and tapers to a 

 point at the end. The plain roller is made of a piece of 

 oak wood, feven feet long and eighteen inches diameter. In 

 the centre of each end of both rollers are fixed iron buflies 

 of two inches diameter. The bow part of the left-hand 

 fide of the frame is made of iron, four inches broad, half 

 an inch thick, and is a fegment of a circle twenty-feven and 

 a half inches radius, fixed for turning the roller upfidedown. 

 The firing part of the bow is five feet two inches long, and 

 eight by three inches fquare, made of oak wood. In thefe 

 pieces sre fixed gudgeons of two inches diameter, on which 



the rollers move, and at four feet one and a half inch afunder. 

 The four fhafts are eleven feet long, fix by three and a half 

 inches fquare at the hinder ends, through which the centre- 

 bolt paffes. There are four bars four by one and a half 

 inches fquare, and three and a half feet long, for bracing 

 the fhafts together. And two bars eight Feet long, and 

 three by eight inches fquare, with double tenons at each end, 

 for bracing the outfide frames together. In the outer ends 

 of thefe tenons are linchpins for the convenience of taking 

 the machine to pieces. The centre-bolt is made of ham- 

 mered iron, two and a quarter inches diameter ; at one end 

 is a round head, at the other a linchpin. The principal ufe 

 of this bolt is to give the uppermoll roller inclination for- 

 ward when working, and the degree of inclination is go- 

 verned by the breadth of, and the dillance between the two 

 braces, which reft upon the lhafts when the roller is at 

 work, fo as to make the hortes carry a little weight on their 

 backs, otherwife it would be in danger of endeavouring to fall 

 backward. The diltance between them is twelve or fix inches 

 from the centre -bolt. This implement is found of vail ufe 

 in reducing the llubborn forts of foil to a fine ftate of mould, 

 or what is termed tilth by farmers. The ingenious inventor 

 remarks, that it affords the farmer a command over dry fea- 

 fons, and enables him to fow his fpring and fallow crops in 

 proper time. It likewife, he thinks, furnifhes him with the 

 means of cleaning his tillage lands from weeds, whether of 

 the root or feed kind. After paffing this fort of roller two 

 or three times over the land, with drag harrowing in the in- 

 tervals, he fuppotes it would be rendered fufficiently fine for 

 any purpofe that it may be wanted for. And that when 

 the cloddy furface is reduced to fuch a condition as to be 

 incapable of being longer acled upon by the fpike roller, 

 the plane roller may be had recourfe to with the dry harrow. 

 It is likewife Hated to be of great advantage in relloring 

 fuch grafs-lands as have the fward in a degenerated ftate. 

 See Rolling. 



Roller, Concave. The bellying or furrow-rollers have 

 been in common ufe fome length of time, in molt tillage 

 parts of the country ; but the concave ones have perhaps 

 never yet been met with, except about Bradwell, in the 

 county of Effex. They are there made the fmalleft in the 

 middle, fwelling out to a large circumference at each end. 

 The whole of the farmers thereabouts highly approve of 

 this kind of roller, having very generally adopted it. It is 

 made of fuch lengths as to fuit the differences of the ridges 

 or flitches, which are made ufe of in cultivating the ground. 

 And it has a fcraper attached to it, for taking away the 

 cloggy mould that hangs upon it. The mod ufual length 

 of the roller part is feven feet two inches ; to the ex- 

 tremities or outfides of the frame, feven feet nine inches ; 

 the length of the ends of the frame, four feet three inches ; 

 the diameter of the roller at the ends, one foot ten inches ; 

 in the concave part in the middle, one foot four inches ; 

 the circumference in the fame place, four feet. A repre- 

 fentation of it may be feen in the firft volume of the Agri- 

 cultural Report of Effex. 



Roller, Drill. This is a roller originally contrived for 

 the purpofe of forming drills in dry light foils, for putting 

 the grain in ; but which is likewife found ufeful in reducing 

 cloddy rough tillage land into a ftate of pulverization and 

 finenefs. The invention of it has by fome been afcribed to 

 the Norfolk farmers ; but the writer of the Agricultural 

 Survey of that diitrift fays, that he has at different periods 

 made many inquiries for the inventor of this tool, but could 

 not afcertain it thirteen years ago. Mr. Sillis, of Hartford 

 Bridge, near Norwich, was mentioned to him as a perfon 

 who had improved it. It is defcribed as a cylinder of iron, 



about 



