62 
The TlnohiHon of Agricvlhirnl Tmplemeni.^. 
Potato drill (Class 7). — This clever modern machine, patented 
in 1875 by Ferguson, consists of two large iron hoppers, contain- 
ing the “eyes” or “ sets” to be planted, and mounted on a pair 
of travelling wheels from whose axis an endless chain, formed 
of a series of cups, passes upwards through each hopper, every 
cup taking up a “ set ” in its passage. The “ sets ” then fall 
into a tube, through which the endless chain itself returns, and 
as each cup emerges from the bottom of this tube an “ eye ” 
drops into the furrow. Two mould boards follow close on the 
falling seed for the purpose of covering it with soil. 
Secondly — the Seed Ihirrov'. 
All the best drills deliver their seed into a funnel-shaped 
tube terminating in a heavy coiilter, which, either sinking by 
its own weight, or being forced into the soil, traces a shallow 
furrow therein. The sides of this furrow should fall in quickly 
and easily upon the seed ; but so much pressure has sometimes 
to be applied to the coulter that the little walls of earth which 
ought to be left in a loose and friable state frequently become 
“ glazed,” with the result that the seed is not completely and 
quickly covered. The Americans have recently tried to remedy 
this defect by using a coulter of circular section cut away 
obliquely behind, and having its nose turned up like a hog’s 
snout. 
Tldrdl 1 / — Steerage. 
For drilling to be quite regular, eveiy passage of the machine 
across the field must be exactly parallel to its predecessor, and 
it is quite impossible to ensure this by simple skill in driving, 
as was attempted in Cooke’s early machine. 
To obviate the difficulty, James and Jonathan Smyth brought 
out the “ Sufiblk ” drill, a machine fitted with a swing- steerage 
of the seed and manure coulters. Salmon, of Woburn, introduced 
his Bedfordshire drill in 1801, with steerage of the two support- 
ing wheels in the rear. This machine has since been improved 
in details, but both its steerage and general principles of con- 
struction survive to the present day. In 1838, Lord Western 
first patented a drill with fore-carriage steerage, and, in 1842, 
Messrs. Garrett added fore-carriage steerage to Smyth’s 
“Suffolk ” drill. 
The trials of corn and seed drills, conducted by the Royal 
Agricultural Society at Bedford in 1874, clearly evidenced that, 
so far as their most important function, regularity of seeding, 
is concerned, this class of implement is still open to consider- 
