46 
Report on the Agricultural Implements at 
Before leaving the subject of grain distribution, I must notice Tlte Philadelphia 
Broad-cast Seed-Sower (Buist and Alduns), a remarkably simple and efficient 
machine, which is made in two sizes. The No. 1 machine is fixed in an 
ordinary waggon, and consists of a large hopper with adjustable feed, from 
which the corn drops into a horizontal screw fan, which revolves rapidly and 
distributes the seed in a uniform shower; the motion is derived from the 
spokes of the hind wheel by chain-gearing. 
The simplicity and efficiency of the patent attachment by which the chain- 
gear can be applied to any ordinary wheel-spoke is very commendable. This 
consists of a series of clips attached to the spoke by tightening a screw, the 
mechanism of which will be fully understood by the following illustration. 
At the present day broadcast sowing is not 
Fig. 42.— Patent attachment pnerally approved and I should hardly have 
° /. /V7 • . TT7-7 7 ielt lustined m introducing this notice but 
of Cham-gear to Wheel- for ^ extreme efficiency % { the distributor> 
s P olce - and the really admirable arrangement for ob- 
taining the power, the patent clips being ap- 
plicable to any machinery where a chain- 
gear is used. The rapidity with which the 
operation can be performed is remarkable, 
from 10 to 12 acres an hour being covered. 
No. 2 machine, made on the same principle 
is adapted for manual labour. The hopper 
and fan are carried in front of the sower, 
being secured by a buckle round the waist. The fan is worked by a small 
handle. With this machine, which costs 15 dollars, it is said that 4 acres 
per hour can be sown. 
Maize or " Corn " Planters. 
Before attempting to describe the machines for planting Indian 
corn, some notice of the crop itself, which forms the staple pro- 
duct of the Northern States, may be interesting to my readers. 
No one who has not seen the reality, can form a just conception 
of the rapidity of growth, grandeur of appearance, and exceed- 
ing productiveness of this most valuable cereal. My observa- 
tion was confined principally to crops growing in the State of 
Pennsylvania ; anything that I there saw was but a feeble 
illustration of the magnificent proportions to which the crop 
attains in the Western Prairies, where thousands of acres may 
be seen without a break. My sojourn in America extended 
from May 21st to August 5th, an interval of eleven weeks. 
During that short period I saw the blade appear above ground, 
reach a height in many instances of 10 feet, put forth its 
beautiful and luxuriant flowers — a cluster of red stamens at the 
end of the stalk- — whence the pollen in falling to the ground 
abundantly fertilises the female organs contained in the cobs, 
which appear at different parts of the stem, surrounded by a 
leafy sheaf. Later on, the grains form ; and all that remained 
after my departure was the ripening process. Although gene- 
rally planted at intervals of 4 feet each way — three stalks toge- 
ther — so luxuriant is the growth, that the crop seen from a 
