86 
A DRILL CULTIVATOR AND MARKER. 
the macrophylla, we could have time to labor much 
at other improvements. Just think of three-quarters 
of a mile of fencing per hand, and calculate the 
cost. Why, sir, the yearly cost would put in the 
ground a hedge, and one-tenth the expense would 
keep it up as long as we should live. Besides, 
timber is more scarce in some regions, and getting 
so in many others, which will cause an increase of 
expense. 
I might say something of pasturage, of its saving 
of corn, of its ability to keep up stock, &c. But I 
am tired of writing, and I suppose my friends are 
of reading. I therefore close by subscribing myself, 
Edwards Depot, Miss. M. W. Philips. 
A DRILL CULTIVATOR AND MARKER. 
I have now at the Fair of the American Institute 
two implements, the one denominated a Drill Cul¬ 
tivator, and the other a Drill Marker and Vine 
Layer, of both which I believe myself to be the ori¬ 
ginal inventor. 
Having cultivated four acres of strawberry plants 
with these implements during the last two seasons, 
I will briefly describe the method of their use. In 
the first place, some slight inequalities in the sur¬ 
face of the ground were removed by a common 
road scraper for filling ruts. For marking the 
ground in drills I used the cultivator with the eight 
wooden teeth and the wheels. When sufficiently 
smooth and even, a line was extended on one side 
of the field, and a mark drawn by it for the outside 
tooth of the implement. It being .then taken up, 
was stretched close on the ground, as a guide to 
the rider, where the horse should walk, to bring the 
outside tooth to follow the mark already drawn; 
and the process was continued, crossing the field 
back and forth until the whole was finished. The 
unexpected ease with which the implement was 
managed, surprised me, and I was not a little grati¬ 
fied to find that none of the many present could dis¬ 
tinguish those marks in which a tooth had returned. 
The guiding is rather a nice matter, yet by no 
means difficult, much less impracticable, as had 
been predicted. It requires, however, a slow horse 
and a careful rider. 
Another objection was, that the horse would in¬ 
jure the plants by treading on them ; but the injury 
really sustained is found to be of little or no conse¬ 
quence. Strawberry vines, when trodden down, 
will rise again like grass. The implement is regu¬ 
lated by one of the handles only, usually the left. 
Th a holder, walking behind the wheel, grasps the 
in of the handle with his right hand, which is 
rought to rest against the thigh, a little below the 
hip, and the upright part with his left. The reason 
ioj holding it thus will be understood, if it be con¬ 
sidered that the shares will run at the depth the 
wheels will allow T , and no deeper, without the least 
attention on the part of the holder, and that nothing 
remains for him to do but to prevent the implement 
from tending to the right or left. If the shares run 
too deep, an addition is made to the circumference 
of the wheels by sheet iron bands or otherwise. 
In estimating the effort required to govern the 
machine, it should be recollected that the slightest 
force nay change the direction of a moving body, 
such as would have no perceptible effect upon it in 
a state of rest. In the position of the holder above 
described, the effort is not so much confined to the 
arms as otherwise it would be, and actually causes 
no more fatigue than ordinary plowing. This im¬ 
plement is evidently not adapted to uneven or stony 
land; and where these difficulties exist to such an 
extent as not to be easily remedied, it will be better 
to avoid them altogether, by adopting other modes 
of culture. 
That strawberry vines are not materially injured 
by the feet of the horse I have proved by experi¬ 
ment ; whether if the implement were used for tur¬ 
nips, beets, &c., this objection would be valid, I 
cannot say; but should venture to presume that 
the damage, if any, to single plants, here and there, 
would be much more than compensated hy the sav¬ 
ing of labor and other advantages. For these 
crops, it is suggested, that three harrow teeth, set at 
three inches apart, would be a very good substitute 
for one of the shares. With this alteration the 
wheels might be unnecessary. 
Drill Cultivator.—'Fig. 21. 
Description.—b b b b b. Shares to run between 
the drill. The wheels are about one foot in dia¬ 
meter. 1 , d, A cross-bar, connecting the handle ; 
a wooden tooth, of which there are eight belonging, 
to the implement, to be inserted at a a, &c., one 
foot apart, for marking out the ground. For this 
purpose, however, the marker mentioned below 
might be substituted. 3, The share or tooth formed 
like a coulter, and bottom piece without a mould 
board. It is laid with steel and made sharp. 4, 
The wheel d, in halves, and the manner of applying 
it to the axle c, by bolts and screws. To the under 
side of the axis is nailed a piece of sheet iron or tin 
to diminish the friction of the wheel, c, A brace 
fastened at one end by a nut to the bolt passing 
through one of the thills and cross-piece, and at the 
other to the axle. 
The other implement, the Vine Layer, is almost 
indispensable for cultivating strawberry plants in 
drills. The plants are, at first, set in the drills, 
about two feet apart, in holes made for them by a 
sharpened stick. Should any fail to live, their 
places may be ascertained by the marking side of 
the implement, and again supplied at any time, 
although the original marks may have become 
obliterated. 
When the vines have commenced running, and 
before the young plants have taken root, the vine 
layer is drawn lengthwise of the drills, each pair 
of pins including between them the several plants. 
The operation may be deferred so long as the sur¬ 
face of the ground is dry, for not a plain will strike 
