MACHINE. 



been introduced, or CTen where there is any attention to the 

 wafle of time, or to the eafe of cattle iri the aft of plough- 

 ing ; in order to get rid of crooked or unequal ridges, with- 

 out either a fummer fallow by crofs ploughing, or elfe by 

 frequent repetitions of ploughing in the winter and fpring, 

 which the humidity of this climate will not allow in every 

 kind of foil. " Fourteen acres of land were redaced with 

 this tool by the inventor to a perfeft level, where the crowns 

 of the ndges were about two feet higher than the furrows, 

 and where they were crooked and of unequal breadths. 

 Bat the chief fuccefs has been upon a field of c'ght acres, 

 which lay in an unprofitable flate, and which is a deep clay, 

 that had produced a crop of wheat from an old lay fod 

 the former year, without any manure, which was winter 

 ploughed, and lay in that flate until the machine was intro- 

 duced the firll dry weather in April. It was preceded by 



the upper frame work of the machine, extending from the axl^' 

 to the extremity of the handle^', f,f, and fecured lirmly by 

 the crofs pieces, g, g, the curved iron (lidtrs of the machirif, 

 which may be raifed or depreifed a little by means of the 

 pins, /), h, which pafs through holes in the wood-work, and 

 alfo in the iron Oidcrs. Thefe llidcrs form one piece with 

 thf back iron fcraper /', in the manner more fully explained 

 m Jig. 3, k, the wooden back of the machine, which Ihould 

 be made ftrong, to refill the weight of the eartii when col- 

 ledled therein. The iron fcraper (hould be firmly lecured 

 to this by fcrews and iron work ; /, /, the wooden fides of 

 the machine, firmly connedted with the back and frami: 

 work, in order to alFiil in coUecling the eartli to be removed ; 

 m, a ttrong crofs piece, into which the ribs which fupport 

 the back are well mortifed. 



The interior part of the back of the machine is fnev.n 



two horfe plougho, taking perhaps a fquare of an acre at at k, m Jig. 3 : i, the iron fcraper, lli;irp at the bottom, 



once: thele loofened the foil the depth of a common fur- 

 row, and twice the breadth acrofs the ridges. The levelling 



machine followed, drawn by two oxen and two horfes, with 



a man at each handle, to prefs it down where the height was 



to be removed, and to lift up the body by the handles where 



it was to be dilcharged. Thus, four men, one driver, and 



eight head of cattle, will more effertually level from haif an 



acre to three roods in one day, according as the earth is 



light or heavy, than fixty or eighty men would accompli Ih 



with harrows and (hovels, Sec. even with the alTidance of a 



plough. In fandy ground, where the depth of one furrow 

 will bring a'l to a level, as much, of courie, will be done in 

 one day as two ploughs can cover ;" but in this cafe, the 

 ground required to be gone over feveral times. It is further 

 ftated, that " after this field was levelled, the backs of the 

 ridges, as they are termed, which were dripped of their 

 vegetable mould, were ploughed up, the turrows not re- 

 quiring it. They were alio harrowed, and the field copioufly 

 manured with lime-compofl, harrowed in, and broke into 

 nine feet ridges, perfedily itraight, in order to introduce 

 Duckit's drill. It was (own under furrow, broad-caft, the 

 lafl: of it not until the ijth of May, and was cut down a 

 reafonable crop the 4th of September." And " the field 

 now lies in proper form, well manured, with the advantage 

 of a fair crop from heavy tenacious ground, without lofing 

 a feufon, and in a year by no means favourable." The 



firmly fcrewed to the back of the machine; g, g, parts of 

 the fide irons or fiiuer?, fhcwlng the mode in which they 

 are united with the fcraper /'; m, tlie crofs piece already 

 defcribcd. 



Machines, Military, among the Ancients, were of three 

 kinds : the firil ferving to launch arrows, as the fcorpion j 

 or javelins, as the catapulta ; or ftones, as the balifla ; or 

 fiery darts, as the pyrabolns : the fecond ferving to beat 

 down walls, as the battering ram and terebra : and the third 

 to flie!ter thole who approach the enemies wall, as the tor- 

 toife or tefludo, the vinea, phiteus, and the towers of wood. 

 Thefe machines, together with their proportions and pro- 

 perties, are deicribed in the works of Vitruvius, Am.mianus 

 i^.IarceUinus, and other writers. Mr. Grofe has given de- 

 fcriptions and drawings of tliefe in ihe Jir/l volume of his 

 " Military Antiquities," chap. xii. 



Machine, Stone-UJting, in Agriculture, an implement of the 

 triangle kind, fimilar to that uicd by vood-cuiters for weigh- 

 ing bark, conllrufted for the purpofe of raifing large flones 

 of fome tons weight ufed in the northern parts of Scotland, 

 and many other places. It is fuppok-d to fave much es- 

 pence in powder and boring, as well as labour, three men 

 being fufRcient to work it. It is defcribcd in the Agricul- 

 tural Survey of Perthihire in this manner. 



" The three legs, ad, b d, and c d, which are ffjewn at 

 Jig. 4, are beams of any hard wood, four inches thick* {\-^ 



writer is " well aware tliere are many fliallow foils, where niches broad, and about fourteen feet long. Their thin- 

 it may be hazardous to remove the enriched furface, and nell fide points inwards, which gives them more ilrength. 

 trull perhaps one half of the land for a crop that had never Tlieir feet form on the ground an equilateral triangle die, 

 before been expofed to the atmofphere ; but where the foil and their three tops at d are fixed together by an iron rod, 

 is fufRcieiitly deep, or there is a good under-flratum, with which paffes through each. The two legs j </ and i if are 



manure at hand to correct what is four for want of expofure 

 and tillage, it is evident, from this experiment, that no ritk 

 is run." And in order " to avoid the ejfpence of a fallow, 

 and to lay out ground in ftraight and even ridges, even 

 where drill hufb.indry is not pratlifed, fhould be objeAs to 

 every rational farmer ; but where the new fyilem is intended 

 to be adopted, it becomes indifpenfibly neccflary. In- 

 laying down lawns, parks, &c. v.here furrows are an eye- 

 fore, or places inacceflible to wheel-carriages from their de- 

 clivity, and from which earth is to be removed, it will alfo 

 be found equally ufetul." BeUdes thefe, there are many 

 other cafes in which the old rounded ridges may be levelled 

 down with great advantage, either by this or fome other 

 means. 



A reprefentation of this machine is given at^^'. i. in Plate 

 (Mackinei) Agriculture, in which a. Jig. 2. is a part of the pole, 

 to wliichthe oxen or horfes which draw the machine are fall- 

 ened, and a hich is attached to the machine by a pm at b ; c,c, 

 the two wheels, fhod with iron, which run upon the axle d'l et, 



fixed to one another by the wiiidlafs h, and by the crofs-bar 

 p q. There are two puUiea ^ and y", with an iron hook 

 two inches in circumference to each ; gg g may be (more 

 than one, but rather) one iron chain winch goes round the 

 ftoiie n, while lying in the ground at in, below its greatefl 

 diameter, or where it begins to become narrow. This chain 

 confills of rounded links, which are about three inches long, 

 and about the thicknefs of a man's little finger. It has a 

 hook at one end, that may be put into any link towards the 

 other end, which will make it embrace the Hone exaclly, 

 and be of the fame circumference, where the Itoiie touches 

 the earth ; h g, h g, h g, are (horter chains oFthe fame v,ork. 

 manfhip, whufe hosks are fixed into hnks of the furround- 

 ing chain at ^^^'■, and to on round the ftone, having thi 

 correfpunding link of each fixed on the hook of the lower 

 pulley at /;. Tlie whole rope mull be of the fune thicknefi 

 with the two great liooks, two ir.i;hes in circumference. 



"All things being thus prepared, two men turn roar.d 

 the handles of the cylinder, and the wagjoner alliihn^ them. 

 SCz by 



