598 Report to H.R.H. the President 



not yet been carried out upon system by any one of them to its 

 fullest extent. 



These implements were not oric^inally intended for stirring hard 

 ground, but were gradually developed out of the harrow, which 

 was mounted on wheels, with a view to the raising of loose couch 

 out of ploughed ground, a use which autumnal cleaning will soon, 

 it may be hoped, make obsolete. 



Of the prize Cultivators, Biddle's by Messrs. Ransome is one 

 of the oldest, and still one of the best, The width ^ives it crreat 



Ransome's Biddle's Scaritier„ 



steadiness, and its leverage is good, though wearing an awkward 

 appearance. Many attempts have been made to remove this 

 defect, but none so successful as the simple straight levers by 

 which the other prize scarifier, Coleman's, is lifted out of the 

 ground. This is a decided advance, and greatly facilitates the 

 substitution of the scarifier for the plough. Since the trial I have 

 used Coleman's implement, and find it superior to other wide 

 scarifiers : for these implements have hitherto had two defects ; 

 they sometimes rise partially out of the ground, and sometimes 

 swerve in their course, thus in each case missing a part of their 

 work. Hence arises often the necessity for dragging them a 

 second time crossways over the same piece of ground. Coleman's 

 scarifier never rises nor swerves, but does its work as true as a 

 plough, doing it therefore once for all. For the mere paring of a 

 very tight surface, however, even Coleman's may be sometimes too 

 broad, and Bentall's narrow one is excellent for that purpose. 

 Its long snout, like a swordfish's horn, is an ingenious device by 



