594 



Report to H.R.H. the President 



iron, within which the common axle lies for the four rollers 

 to play freely upon. 



The common axle rests, in fact, always on the lower surface of 

 the internal circle of the four rolls, which thus move irregularly 

 with the freedom desired. 



The roller has, however, been superseded in its function of 

 clodcrusher by the instrument which bears that name, though we 

 still see farmers engaged in the hopeless attempt at breaking, by 

 the alternate use of roller and harrow, clods which refuse to be 

 broken. The barley crop of course suffers thereby in quality as 

 well as in measure. 



4. Clodcrusher s. Norwegian Harrow. 



Mr. Crosskill's clodcrusher is well known as one of the most 

 popular of our new inventions. Its principal use is in breaking 

 down turnip-land which has been fed off by sheep in wet weather 

 and afterwards baked by the sun. Notwithstanding its jagged iron 



Crosskill's Clodcrusher. 



teeth, it has been found, too, the best presser for young wheat in 

 March, when the soil has been swollen and the roots thrown out 

 by alternating frosts and thaws. Thus applied it also arrests the 

 wirevvorm, and, if it wound the tender blade, the wheat tillers the 

 better. By using it according to its intention, especially in the 

 preparation of barley-land^ we may avoid sowing on cloddy ground 

 or save three weeks' delay of the sowing, and in either case may 

 gain at least one quarter of barley per acre, thus paying for our 

 implement in the first season. Mr. Gibson's clodcrusher, now 

 first broug^ht out, is on a different construction, beins" formed of 

 two rows of very narrow wheels, alternating with each other. Mr. 

 Crosskill's has the defect of clogging when the soil is moist, Mr. 



