I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



545 



after having been fixed by the action of air 

 and moisture or supporting vegetation, it 

 may be mixed with the surface soil, by 

 which the staple may be deepened, and thus 

 enlarge the pasture of plants. It is for the 

 purposes just mentioned that the imple- 

 ments about to be described are suggested 

 for the consideration of the agricultural 

 public. 



It has already been stated, when treating 

 of the motive power, that whatever imple- 

 ments may be employed in steam culture, 

 simple traction should be superseded by a 

 revolving action. The advantage of revolv- 

 ing action over simple traction is much the 

 same as that of the action of a wheel over 

 the action of a sledge. And it has also 

 been stated, for the reasons given, that 

 whatever implements may be used with a 

 locomotive engine as the motive power in 

 steam culture, the implement should operate 

 at once on a greater breadth of ground than 

 the extreme breadth of the engine. 



For an invertion of the soil, the writer 

 suggests a revolving implement of the fol- 

 lowing construction, viz. :— Let a circle be 

 described of a certain radius, to which, at 

 the extremities of two diameters intersect- 

 ing each other at right angles, let tangents 

 be drawn. Then with a certain radius from 

 the points of contact of the tangents with 

 the circle, describe arcs cutting the tan- 

 gents; and these arcs will be the curves of 

 the blades or spades. 



The working part of the proposed imple- 

 ment should consist of a cast-iron nave, 12 

 inches in diameter, and 3 inches thick, into 

 which should be sunk four tenon beds, ar- 

 ranged parallel to tangents to the axle, after- 

 wards to be mentioned. These tenon beds 

 should be 2 inches deep and 2 inches wide, 

 and slightly dovetailed or tapering towards 

 the circumference. From the naves just 

 described four arms should protrude 12 in- 

 ches beyond theircircuni^'erences, and which 

 will be the limit of the depth to which the 

 implement will work in the soil. These 

 arms, to which the blades or spades are to 

 be attached, should be nearly flat, about f 

 inch thick in the middle, with cutting edges 

 of a concave form, and should have tenons 

 to fit accurately into the tenon beds previ- 

 ously noticed, and the flat part of the arms 

 should shoulder on the circumference of the 

 naves. The blades or spades should be 12 

 inches in breadth, by 18 inches in length, 

 and instead of being rectangular in their 

 35 



form, they should be rhomboidal, having 

 their opposite acute angles 56 degrees; and, 

 to keep the arms firmly in their places, cir- 

 cular cast iron plates, of the same diameter 

 and 1 inch thick, should be bolted to the 

 naves over the tenons of the arms. The 

 naves, arms, and blades, should be keyed on 

 to an axle of the best forge scrap iron 3 in- 

 ches in diameter, so that the sides of the 

 blades may touch each other, and so arran- 

 ged that the obtuse angle of one blade may 

 join the acute angle of the next, and the 

 cutting edges of the mouths form a continu- 

 ous diagonal line ; and if seven of these 

 blades form the working part of an imple- 

 ment, its length will be 7 feet, and form a 

 horizontal spiral, about 3 feet in diameter, 

 with a pitch of 14 feet or double the length 

 of the implement. The blades, and also the 

 -concave cutting edges of the arms should be 

 of steel. 



The working part of the implement de- 

 scribed above, should be mounted on an iron 

 travelling frame, having a pair of wheels- 

 towards the back, and a pair of leading 

 wheels on swivels in front ; and provision 

 should be supplied for raising the working 

 part out of the soil when turning, or travel- 

 ling out of action, and for regulating the- 

 depth at which the implement may be re- 

 quired to be worked in the soil. The kstr 

 mentioned provision may be effected by 

 means of a pinion working into a toothed 

 sector, with the axle of the working part 

 bearing in a radial arm or bar opposite to a 

 bisection of the arc ; and such purchase 

 should be further assisted by screws working 

 into wheels on the pinion axle, to which mo- 

 tion should be given by a winch handle on 

 each side.* 



A complete invertion of the soil being 

 obtained, whenever it may be required, by 

 the implement above described, the commi- 

 nution and aeration of the soil, and, at the 

 same time, the thorough removal of weeds, 

 may then be effected by the revolving culti- 

 vator as made by Mr. Matthew Gibson, of 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which, for being work? 



* The idea of this implement was taken from 

 a paper on "New Processes, Rotary Forking and 

 Digging," read at the Central Farmers' Club,. 

 London, by Mr. Clarke, and which appeared' in 

 the Mark Lane Express, February 15th, 1858. 

 The writer of the present article has had a mo- 

 del made of the working part of the implement 

 suggested, by which he finds it will efficiently 

 perform the purpose required. 



