694 
Report on the Exhihiiion of Implements 
At a subsequent meeting, tlie Council, acting upon the recom- 
mendation of the judges, conferred this, their highest, mark of 
distinction upon Mr. Orosskill. 
Tlie judges have further remarked in their communications 
with the writer, that " they consider this implement, with its 
latest improvement, to be the most beneficial one used in agri- 
culture exhibited at the Newcastle meeting. " The improvement 
thus referred to consists in the enlargement of the eye of each 
alternate ring, forming collectively the series of rings or discs of 
which the roller is composed ; so that of these rings, which are 
23 in number, 12 have eyes fitting the axle just freely enough 
to revolve upon it, whilst the 1 1 alternate rings have their eyes 
enlarged about half an inch more in diameter. This arrangement 
has added materially to the effect of the implement in abrading and 
reducing hard clods; it has also induced among the rings a more 
efficient self-cleaning movement, when the roller is used on moister 
soils or softer clods ; so that, practically, the scope and power of 
the roller have been augmented, without adding to its cost, or im- 
pairing its extreme simplicity ; and it can now be employed on 
soil when in states which would have clogged it, or have diminished 
its effect if all the rings on the axis had eyes of similar size.* 
The superior results arising from this disposition of parts are 
altogether attributable to what is properly termed action — me- 
chanical action ; and it has been owing to its possessing this 
function in so high a degree, that Mr. Crosskill's patent-roller 
has proved to be more effective in comminuting and compressing 
soil than the common plain roller, or than the serrate-edged 
ringed-roller with a square axle, first introduced by him. This 
property will be better understood by narrating shortly the his- 
tory of the invention. 
The use of rollers for agricultural purposes is probably coeval 
with, or was immediately subsequent to, that of the plough, or of 
the rudest stirrer of the soil. The roller is found in countries 
where agricultural processes are in a purely nascent state. In 
England, variations have been long since, and advantageously 
made, both in the materials and construction of the implement. 
Instead of wood — usually a rounded tree of little weight — rollers 
have been composed of stone, and of cast or wrought iron ; they 
have also been formed of two, three, or more parts, revolving 
cither on the same axle, or on independent axles. But these, 
whatever may have been the number or arrangement of their 
parts, were invariably made plane on their surfaces, until Mr. 
Crosskill, about the year 1832, imagined the form of roller now 
* Tliis improvement was suggested to the patentee by Mr. Robert 
Neilsoii, ol' Halewood, near Liverjiool. 
