546 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[September 



ed by steam-power, may be described as fol-f 

 lows, viz. :— It consists of a number of cast 

 iron discs or naves, 12 inches in diameter 

 and 3 inches thick, with a further thickness 

 on each side of f inch and 4 inches in di- 

 ameter, revolving independently of each 

 other on a round iron axle 3 inches in diam- 

 eter. On the periphery of each disc are 

 fixed, alternately on each side, ten strong 

 iron curved teeth, of a length to penetrate 

 vertically 12 inches into the soil, with points 

 of a diamond form and steeled; and between 

 each disc is a bar of flat iron, with the edge 

 downwards, and curved with a convexity to- 

 wards the teeth as they emerge from the soil, 

 to keep the teeth clear of weeds grubbed 

 out of the soil, and, at the same time, to 

 break any clods of soil that may be lifted by 

 the teeth. The last-mentioned bars, for 

 their support, and also to prevent soil from 

 entering and shearing the axle, should em- 

 brace the discs at their joints with each 

 other, and their other ends supported by 

 bars, extending across from the lifting sec- 

 tor on one side to that on the other. In or- 

 der that the implement may cover a greater 

 breadth of ground at one operation than the 

 breadth of the engine, the number of the 

 discs on the working part should not be less 

 than twenty. The implement now being de- 

 scribed will work to any depth in the soil 

 that may be desired, not exceeding 12 in- 

 ches below the surface; the depth being 

 regulated, and the working part being re- 

 moved from the soil when turning, or travel- 

 ling when out of action, by the same means 

 as has been previously described for the pur- 

 pose, when treating of the implement for 

 inverting the soil.* 



The most important application of steam- 

 power to cultivation would be in the opera- 

 tion of subsoiling or breaking the under-soil 

 without bringing it in its crude state to the 

 surface, preparatory to deepening the staple 

 at a future time. In this, three operations 



* This is the revolving cultivator as first made 

 by Mr. Matthew Gibson, of Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne, in 1853. Revolving implements for til- 

 lage were suggested by the writer of the present 

 article in the Farmer's Magazine for October. 

 1848. The implement as made by Gibson is 

 most efficient for its purpose; but owing to the 

 great horse-power required to work it, it never 

 came extensively into use; but if used by a 

 ateam-engine as the tractive force, the same ob- 

 jection to its use will not exist, and it would be 

 found to be the most valuable implement for its 

 purpose that has probably ever been invented. 



fare required to be simultaneously performed. 

 Opening a trench or furrow in the surface 

 soil ; breaking or forking the sub-soil ; and 

 filling the trench or furrow in the surface 

 soil as the work proceeds. To effect these 

 operations of the same breadth at once, 

 which has been recommended to be done in 

 the other operations of tillage, previously 

 treated of, would require a much heavier 

 implement than would be manageable j and 

 besides w T hich, the nature of the operation 

 does not necessitate the implement being 

 wider than the engine, without taking into 

 consideration the much greater force requi- 

 red in working an implement for the pur- 

 pose in question. Perhaps 3 feet at once 

 would be as great a breadth as an implement 

 for the purpose could be easily managed. 

 In conformity to the recommendation of a 

 revolving action in the implement, its con- 

 struction may be described as follews, viz. : 

 Three cast iron cylinders of 2 feet in diam- 

 eter, 1 foot in length, and 2 inches in thick- 

 ness, formed in the manner of wheels, with 

 arms of malleable iron in pairs, cast into a 

 nave in the centre and into the cylinder. In 

 the periphery of the cylinder should be 12 

 rows of mortices across the length of the 

 cylinder, three in each row, and tapering 

 slightly towards the inside. The size of 

 these holes to be 2 inches by 1 inch, the 

 larger dimension to be in the direction of 

 the circumference of the cylinder. In the 

 mortices should be slightly curved teeth, the 

 points of which to be diamond shaped and 

 steeled, and project fully 12 inches beyond 

 the circumference of the cylinders. These 

 teeth should be 1 inch thick, 3 inches wide 

 at the shoulders, tapering to 1 inch wide at 

 the points, and keyed through slots in the 

 tenons w T ithin the cylinders. This portion 

 of the implement is intended" to roll in the 

 bottom of a trench in the surface soil, form- 

 ed by another portion of the implement, 

 presently to be described ; and from what 

 has already been said, its action will be rea- 

 dily understood to be precisely that of three 

 pronged forks. The arrangement of the 

 cylinders just now described, is one in the 

 centre and in front, and two behind, one on 

 each side, mounted on a suitable frame, 

 with apparatus for raising and lowering a 

 pair of travelling wheels, by which to raise 

 the cylinders from the soil when being turn- 

 ed, or travelling when out of action ; and to 

 give power to such action there should be a 

 swivel wheel in front to act as a fulcrum in 



