AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
53 
vantages to the consumer which they possess 
over every other implement of the kind. I have 
for many years been tool-maker for the majority 
of the London market gardeners. My first ef¬ 
fort to serve them was by improving their spades 
and hoes; the improvement in the spades con¬ 
sisted of plating the front side, or upper surface 
of the spade, with cast steel, so as to impart to 
the implement the property of wearing itself to 
a knife edge and to a peculiarly bright surface, 
which scarcely any soil would adhere to. My 
next effort to improve this article was to shape 
the iron and steel so as to produce a solid plate 
or blade, gradually increasing in strength from 
the edge to the center, and again wedge-like 
from the edge to the top or shank, which places 
the weight of the implement so near the hand, 
that, although it possesses great weight and 
force in its downward blow, to cut through roots 
or turf, it does not rise or lift heavily. And 
there is also a novelty in the mode of joining the 
wood and iron part of the handle, as you will 
see by the one which is now exhibited (No. 1.) 
Instead of the iron covering the wood, as in the 
usual mode of construction, the wood covers the 
iron; and wood being a non-conductor of heat, 
comparatively with iron, the implement is much 
pleasanter to handle during the cold of winter. 
My next attempt was to improve the three- 
prong dung-fork then in use. Having made 
some to pattern supplied by Messrs. Fitch, of 
Fulham, good in shape, but the prongs formed 
of ■§• round iron, tapered a little and pointed, I 
was dissatisfied with them, as being cumbrous 
and heavy. I then conceived the idea of mak¬ 
ing one of steel, sufficiently light and well-tem¬ 
pered to be elastic; but being aware that the 
prong of a fork would be tested far more severely 
than sword blade, bayonet, rapier, or any thing 
of the kind, I determined upon selecting a good 
quality of cast steel, and tempering it as skil¬ 
fully as my many years of experience would 
enable me to do, and to make the prongs of such 
a shape that the end section should be an ob¬ 
long square, as shown by No. 2, now exhibited, 
thus offering the greatest resisting power to the 
strain occasioned by lifting a weight of dung or 
litter, and giving the more flexible elasticity in 
the direction that the fork was likely to become 
wedged or expanded, and was eminently suc¬ 
cessful—so much so, that Mr. W. Fitch subse¬ 
quently told me that his man had then a fork in 
use which he had taken to London with the 
dung-cart every day for two years, and that it 
had never cost him one penny in repairs—in 
contradistinction to the iron forks, which, when 
in regular use, cost threepence every fortnight 
at the blacksmith’s shop for pointing—and, to 
use the man’s own expression, it was at that 
time the best fork that ever was stuck into a pit 
of dung. I next saw the desirability of making 
a four-prong fork, for decomposed dung, com¬ 
post, short litter, and various other purposes. 
Here arose the difficulty. I had been substitut¬ 
ing a fork made of 1^ lbs. of steel for one made 
of 3^- lbs. of iron; and, to make this good 
enough to stand its work at such a weight, I 
had seen the necessity of making the fork from 
one piece of steel, without incurring the risk 
and uncertainty of welding or joining prongs 
together. Now, in case of a three-prong, this 
was very simply and readily done, by cutting a 
piece of steel and partially dividing it into three 
parts, and then driving out the two outside 
parts, so as to form it into the shape of a cruci¬ 
fix. The three parts were then drawn out un¬ 
der a till hammer to the desired length and 
strength to form the prongs, and the outsides 
or arms of the cross bent down again in the re¬ 
quired shape for a fork. But to form a four- 
prong fork was altogether a different matter. 
The difficulty was at length overcome in this 
way : A piece of steel was cut and divided up 
the ^middle, and then extended, and the ends 
partially divided ; the two ends were then drawn 
out under a till hammer, extending the two 
prongs; the division was then completed, and 
the two inner prongs forced down into their 
place. When this difficulty was overcome, and 
we were able to forge any number of prongs 
from one piece of steel, subsequent experience 
has proved to me that forks of any given num¬ 
ber of prongs (as the nature of the land may 
require) are the most efficient digging instru¬ 
ments, and the most durable. Steel being a 
material susceptible of crystallization, is neces¬ 
sarily preeminently durable by crystallization; 
and such durability is impaired to a very trifling 
extent only by the subsequent tempering, which 
imparts elasticity. The elasticity of the fork 
proves to be singularly advantageous to the op¬ 
eration upon the soil. When the hardness or 
adhesiveness of the soil, or the intersection of 
roots, offer more than ordinary resistance, and 
more pressure has to be applied, as soon as the 
release takes place the prongs spring forward 
with sufficient force to disseminate the soil in 
thousands of particles; or when the workman 
strikes a clod with the fork in an oblique direc¬ 
tion, the prongs—possessing all the vibrating 
power as seen in the tuning-fork—will dissemi¬ 
nate the soil into the minutest particles. It will 
be obvious that the fine-pointed prongs (as No. 
4) must penetrate the soil, under any circum¬ 
stances, much easier than the edge of a spade, 
however sharp ; and experience has proved to 
me that there is not any soil in this country— 
when ordinarily moist, as in the digging season 
—but will hold together sufficiently to be raised 
up and turned over by this implement. No. 5 
is sufficiently strong for a most adhesive soil. 
No. G is adapted to sub-soil digging, and is capa¬ 
ble of breaking up concrete. A fork of the 
same weight as No. G, with flat prongs, or say 
these prongs reversed, is best adapted for a soil 
where boulders abound. A fork of the shape 
of No 6 holds the boulders between the prongs 
too firmly when they happen to be forced in. 
No. 7, with cither four or five prongs, is best 
shaped for digging potatoes; the fine-pointed 
prongs pass through the soil with such facility 
that it induces a quicker motion of the work¬ 
man’s hand, consequently has more opportunity 
of bringing all bulbs and fibres to the surface. 
The old-fashioned flat-pronged potato fork brings 
the soil forward too much, and buries the rub¬ 
bish, and, I am quite sure, will soon go out of 
use. I had a laborer, three years ago, who dug 
one acre of potatoes in seven days—the land in 
a very foul state, which he left clean and appa¬ 
rently in fine tilth—with a fork of the precise 
shape and weight as No. 7. Ilis mode of work¬ 
ing was as follows: With the fork he flung the 
potatoes out all over the surface of the land, not 
stooping to put his hand to them at all, and 
with a dexterous movement of the fork he 
places the haulm and couch grass on one side. 
He had two children to collect the potatoes into 
baskets; and in the evening of each day he 
would collect the rubbish together, passing his 
many pronged fork over the entire surface, and 
left his land as neat as a well-worked garden. 
No. 8 is a solid bright cast steel draining or bot¬ 
toming tool, a little more than half the weight 
of other tools made for the purpose. This tool 
is used in a four foot drain, at a time when the 
cutting is already three feet four inches deep ; 
and the workman has only room to stand with 
one foot placed behind the other, and has to lift 
the earth frequently above the level of his own 
head. Hence the necessity of a light tool, com¬ 
bined with the greatest amount of strength; 
and the demand made upon you by the public 
for these implements will show how they are 
appreciated. Francis Parkes. 
Birmingham. 
-o • •-- 
CLAUS OF AGRICULTURAL PATENTS 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING 3IARCII 21, 1834. 
Grain and Grass Harvesters. —Henry 
Green, of Ottawa, Ill. Ante-dated" Sept. 21, 
1853 ; I claim, first, the V-shaped space or zig¬ 
zag shape of the rear of the sickle teeth, or the 
equivalent thereof, the angles of which press 
the substances back which collect upon the fin¬ 
gers, and prevent them from clogging the sickle. 
Second, extending the rear ends of the sickle 
teeth back behind the sickle bar whether made 
as represented or broader, or extended back at 
a point. 
Also sharpening said rear-ends so as to cut 
off' any stalks, grass, etc., which may collect 
upon the fingers between the sickle and stock. 
Third, terminating the sickle stock at the 
inside of the rail, and fastening them together, 
as described, thereby permitting the sickle and 
stock to travel near the ground and parallel with 
it, while the rear end of the carriage is carried 
so high as to clear the grass or grain cut at the 
previous swath. 
Harvesters. —P. II. Kells, of Hudson, N. Y.: 
I claim laying the bar which carries the cutting 
teeth, ranging with the guide roller and perpen¬ 
dicular to its side face, when the axis of said 
roller is parallel to the axis of the driving wheel, 
for causing the cutter bar to conform to the 
surface of the ground passed over and for the 
prevention of accidents to the cutting teeth as 
set forth, said bar being on the gearing side of 
the machine. 
Concaves of Clover Hullers. —Thomas 
Carpenter, of Manlius, N. Y.: I claim the man¬ 
ner, as set forth, of threshing or clearing the 
hull from the berry of clover seed, viz., by pass¬ 
ing the seed between two cards, as described, 
one of the cards being attached to the surface of 
a cylinder, and the other attached to a concave 
surface, so that the wires of the cards are in 
contact. The cylinder being revolved while the 
concave is stationary, the hulls are rubbed off 
without danger of cracking the seed, the whole 
constructed as described. 
Devices for Preserving Hen’s Eggs in tiie 
Nest. —C. V. Ament, of Dansville, N. Y.: I 
claim constructing a hen’s nest with two pecu¬ 
liarly constructed and arranged chambers, which 
communicate with each other through a hole in 
the center of the nest, and self-adjusting false 
bottom under the same, the upper chamber 
being provided with a suitable nest and a num¬ 
ber of false eggs for the hen to set upon; and 
the lower one is provided with a soft-cushioned 
surface for the eggs to fall upon, which is made 
of such shape that the real eggs, as they escape 
through the false bottom, arc caused to roll 
gradually towards the edge of the bottom, and 
remain there until removed. The whole being 
constructed and arranged as set forth. 
Seed Planters. —David Wolf, and Herman 
Wolf, of Lebanon, Pa.: We claim the combi¬ 
nation of annular, revolving, perforated plates 
with curved grooves on the under side thereof 
constructed as described. 
Grain Threshers. —J. L. Garlington, of Snap¬ 
ping Shoals, Ga.: I claim the employment of a 
vertical revolving adjustable and springing disk, 
made elastic by means of a spring bearing 
against the end of its shaft, and adjustable by 
set screws which pass through the ends of the 
spring, and throw it into action to a greater or 
less extent, according as they are turned, and 
having a series of beaters set tangentially to its 
axis around its face, and another series placed 
radially round its periphery, in combination 
with a stationary concave, having a series of 
stationary strippers arranged tangentially to the 
axis of the revolving disk on the inner face of 
one of its sides directly under the passage where 
the grain is fed in, and another series of sta¬ 
tionary strippers placed radially for a short dis¬ 
tance round its inner periphery; the whole 
being constructed, arranged, and operating as 
set forth, for the purpose of effecting the ob- 
je«ts specified. 
Machine for Distributing Types. —Victor 
Beaumont, of New-York city: I claim, first, 
the combination called distributing channel of 
the channel sides, the levers and slide, with two 
springs, and the lever and rod, or their equiva¬ 
lent, as described. 
Second, the combination of distributing and 
receiving channels, with disk and ring, and ec¬ 
centric shaft, or their equivalents, by which the 
distributing and receiving channels are brought 
into contact along a curve, the last clement of 
which curve is perpendicular to their faces of 
contact, as described. 
