202 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the quantity of seed deposited in the seed-boxes. The seed-drills 

 are furnished with little plows, which open furrows for the seed, 

 deeper or shallower in proportion as they are laden with weights 

 provided for the purpose, and, being hung on pivots, they readily 

 adapt themselves to any inequalities on the surface of the land. 

 In returning across the field, the inner wheel follows in the track 

 made by the outer one in going, and thus the last row of a twenty- 

 acre field is parallel to the first, and the spaces between the rows 

 are uniform. With land thoroughly prepared, and with men and 

 horses practiced in their work, the machine could plant twenty- 

 five to thirty acres per day. 



The beet-cultivator, Fig. 2, is also drawn by two horses, and 

 cultivates five rows at each passage. It consists mainly of five 



Fig. 2.— The Beet-Ctji/hvator, with Attachment for protecting the Young Plants. 



sets of scuffles or hoes, set in a framework, suspended between the 

 hind-wheels of the machine. By means of a lever, terminating in 

 a cog-wheel and playing on a cogged semicircle, this frame can be 

 moved from side to side, or elevated to pass over obstructions, or 

 for convenience in going to and returning from the field. Each 

 set of hoes comprises three different forms of implements adapted 

 to the cultivation of the crop at different stages of its growth. 

 The first set consists of a broad, single scuffle, almost as wide as 

 the distance between the rows ; this is intended to be used about 

 as soon as the rows can be traced, and it is provided with a con- 

 trivance which bestrides the rows, and protects the young plants 

 from being covered with earth. The second set of implements 

 consists of two narrow scuffles, which penetrate and stir the soil 

 to a greater depth, and are used after the plants have been 

 thinned out and have grown stronger, and there is no longer any 

 danger of covering them with earth. The third set, connected 

 with the beet-cultivator, is a kind of double mold-board plow, and 

 is used for the last hoeing or hilling, Fig. 3. The shape and use 



