at  the  Exeter  Meeting , 1850. 
461 
wheels  shifting  to  correspond,  with  cranked  axletrees,  bringing 
the  large  rollers  in  a line  with  the  wheels,  lessening  the  draught, 
and  assisting  the  leverage  in  raising  them  at  the  land’s  end,  and 
being  able  to  weight  the  scrapers  when  required  ; also  combining 
the  efficiency  of  former  years,  we  consider  this  drill  more  perfect 
than  any  hitherto  produced. 
The  best  Drop-Drill. — This  prize  was  again  merited  by  Messrs. 
Garrett;  and  considering  the  simplicity  of  their  eccentric  motion, 
with  connecting-rods  to  the  pipes,  the  seed  and  manure  are  de- 
livered with  great  exactness,  and  no  part  seems  liable  to  get  out 
of  order.  The  different  appliances  are  easily  removed,  and  it  is 
easily  converted  into  a common  manure  and  turnip  drill,  thus 
combining  the  two  without  either  difficulty  or  trouble.  But  the 
advantage  of  having  the  seed  in  bunches  instead  of  rows,  in  places 
where  dibbling  has  been  longest  practised,  is  considered  rather 
mechanical  than  otherwise  in  preventing  wire-worm  and  other 
insects  working  so  freely  from  plant  to  plant.  The  objection  to 
drop-drills  seems  to  be  the  depositing  so  much  manure  and  seed 
in  so  small  a space.  Any  larger  quantity  of  manure,  put  directly 
under  the  plant,  than  is  necessary  to  bring  it  through  its  first 
stage,  can  hardly  be  so  beneficial  as  if  more  widely  distributed, 
provided  it  be  within  the  space  required  for  the  full  development 
of  the  plant. 
The  Manure  Distributor. — The  requirements  of  this  imple- 
ment appear  to  be  misunderstood  by  some  of  the  manufacturers, 
as  out  of  six  tried  only  one  covered  a sufficient  breadth  to  com- 
pensate for  the  difference  between  horse  and  manual  power. 
Those  of  Messrs.  Garrett  and  Hornsby  were  wrong  in  principle, 
dusting  the  manure  up  into  the  air  instead  of  quietly  distributing 
it  upon  the  ground.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  artificial 
manures  ought  to  be  perfectly  prepared  for  sowing  before  being 
put  into  the  machine,  and  should  not  be  left  for  the  machine  to 
prepare.  The  method  of  sowing  was  in  most  instances  the  same 
as  the  manure-drills;  but  Mr.  Holmes’s  having  the  required 
width,  and  a simple  contrivance  of  the  receiving-board  for  sowing 
either  in  drills,  on  ridged  or  flat  work,  or  broadcast,  and  with  a 
good  delivery,  we  considered  him  entitled  to  the  prize.  On  trial 
it  sowed  guano  mixed  with  chaff  well,  as  also  rougher  manure.* 
* The  improvements  already  made  in  the  manure  distributors,  independently  of 
other  considerations  relative  to  the  scientific  and  practical  reasons  which  should  guide 
us  in  our  application  of  manures  for  indirect  effect  upon  the  soil,  or  for  the  more  im- 
mediate purpose  of  the  plant,  seem  to  suggest  the  probability  of  the  practice  soon 
becoming  more  general  of  employing  separate  machines  for  sowing  seeds  and  manures, 
presenting  the  advantages  of  having  lighter,  simpler,  and  cheaper  implements,  with 
the  consequent  result  of  the  operations  being  performed  quicker  and  with  greater  pre- 
cision. Some  of  the  judges  concur  with  me  in  this  opinion.  The  best  drills  having 
now  become  such  excellent  machines  by  the  successive  improvements  introduced  bv 
VOL.  XI.  2 H 
