at the Southampton Meeting, 1844. 
379 
it can escape, and no more can follow. On withdrawing the dibble 
the rising point is first liberated from the hole, whereon the seed 
instantly tumbles from the hollow stem into the hole. Next the 
dibble, or entire instrument, is raised out of the ground ; a fresh 
hole is made, and so on. These two last apparently distinct ac- 
tions are in fact only one to the user ; since the dibble itself cannot 
rise until the man has lifted the handles to the top of the slot, 
whereby the whole instrument is raised out of the. ground. 
This account may not render the construction of the implement 
very clear, and there is perhaps no greater difficulty in descriptive 
writing than the illustration of a very simple piece of mechanism 
unaided by a diagram. The principle may be more perspicuously 
e.xplained. It will be comprehended that the dibble is pressed 
vertically into the earth; that the seed is safely berthed in its bed 
before the dibble is withdrawn, which last action being also vertical, 
no crumbs can displace or interfere with the seed ; that uniformity 
of depth and a considerable degree of firmness of seed-bed are also 
attained. In all practical respects the implement is handy and 
convenient to the workman. 
The writer has made many experiments as to the accuracy of 
its discharge of seed. The result has been that the variation in 
the number of grains let fall is little greater than what is due to 
the diflFerence in the aggregate bulk of their number. As a 
garden-tool, its utiUty must be;, very great, from its certainty and 
convenience ; and if hand-dibbling be considered too slow for ge- 
neral agricultural purposes, this instrument will be found to be of 
great value in filling up spaces or spots short of plants. It will be 
found to be particularly useful for experimental culture, and possi- 
bly for cottagers' allotments, as its price (355.) places it within 
the reach of a number of small cultivators. Since its exhibition 
at Southampton the inventor has much improved it, by making 
the shell of copper instead of tin ; and he is now occupied in re- 
moving one or two objections elicited from its use by practical 
men. 
Horse-hoes. — The judges awarded a premium of 10/. to Mr. 
David Harkes, of Mere, near Knutsford, for a parallel expanding 
horse-hoe, to work between rows of turnips, &c. In principle 
this implement is very similar to the one invented by Mr. John 
Morton, of ^Maitfield Example Farm, and described in the report 
of the Liverpool meeting. It was well constructed, and its per- 
formance highly commended. 
Mr. Garrett's horse-hoe, for general purposes, was put to work 
on this occasion, in a piece prepared by the stewards for the trial 
of such implements. The judges pronounced its action to be 
" perfect," and assigned to the inventor the silver medal for some 
