cviii Report of Implements shown at Liverpool. 



consists of one or more wheels three feet in diameter, having twenty- 

 hollow tubes radiating from the centre, and extending through the rim 

 of the wheel to form holes of sufficient size and depth for the seed, and 

 at definite distances from each other. The tube or dibble is composed 

 of two halves, the one being fixed upon the periphery of the vvheel, the 

 other sliding downwards and upwards as the wheel revolves. The 

 shape of the tube when closed is similar to that of an Italian iron. It 

 enters the ground closed, forming a taper cylindrical hole, when the sliding 

 half is pressed downwards, and deposits the seed in the hole before the 

 tube quits the earth. The tubes are supplied with seed from the centre 

 or axis of the machine. Each wheel is furnished with a scraper to 

 free it from any adhering soil. The objects proposed by the inventor 

 are — First, to economise seed by administering only a sufficiency of 

 grains, and the determining a precise and proper distance between the 

 plants ; Secondly, to insure a greater certainty of growth and produce 

 by depositing the seed at an uniform depth, and by pressing the soil 

 firmly about it. The number of seeds to be placed in each hole is 

 accommodated to its kind, and to the wishes of the cultivator. The me- 

 chanical arrangements for accomplishing these important ends appeared 

 on close inspection, and on trial in the field, to be efficient and satisfactory. 

 The additional improvements contemplated by the inventor bid fair to 

 render the implement of great practical value to the agriculturist. 



The Rev. W. L. Rham, of Winkfield, Berkshire, exhibited an imple- 

 ment, the principal object of which is to extend and improve the system 

 of drilling and dibbling wheat and beans. It is chiefly in its latter 

 capacity, as a dibbler of seed and manure, that we shall attempt to give 

 a slight description of it. The operative part of the machine is sus- 

 pended upon an iron carriage having four wheels, the two hinder ones 

 being fast upon their axle and turning with it ; on this axle is a spur- 

 wheel, giving motion to a pinion on an intermediate axle, which carries 

 a wheel geared into a second pinion fixed on an axis, having six cranks 

 an-anged spirally. The velocity given to this axis is such that the 

 cranks make one revolution for every six inches of the circumference of 

 the hind wheels, or whatever is the distance desired between the dibble- 

 holes. The radius of each crank is such that this distance shall be 

 equal to the circumference described by it in one revolution. Thus 

 the space described by every crank coincides with that passed over in 

 the same time by the hind-wheels. And, as the cranks turn during the 

 half of a revolution in an opposite direction to that of the wheels, the 

 result of this compound motion is a pause or rest of short duration, at 

 the point where the crank in its rotation commences to retrograde from 

 the line of progress of the machine — i. e. at the lowest point, and when 

 the dibbles are in the ground. The cranks raise the dibbles up and 

 down by means of connecting rods and levers, which double the vertical, 

 without increasing the horizontal motion ; and in order that the point 

 when in the ground may be perfectly stationary, it is made the centre of 

 motion while the machine progresses ; and to enable it to retain that 

 position for a sufficient length of time for the purpose of leaving a hole 

 truly vertical, the dibble moves between cheeks in the rod which connects 

 it with the crank, and has a spring to restore it quickly to its proper 



