264 
AMEEIOAIsr AaBIOtJLTUEIST, 
[June, 
OUR RECORD 
OF 
Recent Agricultural Inventions. 
straw Cutter.— D. M. Cummings, Enfield, N. H. 
Feb. 5; No. 293,150. In tfiis cutter the straw, fed be¬ 
tween the binding roll I, and the flat blade e, is cut up by 
the spiral saw d, from which it passes through the spout 
p, to the hard rolls r. r, which complete its disintegra¬ 
tion. The patent covers the combination and gearing 
of these parts. 
Stalk Chopper.— W. H. Mercer, Mercer, S. 0. 
Feb. 5; No. 293,055. The knives of this chopper are at¬ 
tached to a cylinder, which is rigidly fixed to a shaft. 
Surrounding the knives is a slotted cylinder loosely 
hung on the shaft, so that when in use, the cutters of the 
inner cylinder will project through the lower slots, far 
enough to cut the stalks as they lie upon the ground. 
To protect the knives when the machine has to be drawn 
upon a hard road, sliding plugs are placed on the ends 
of the shaft, and means are provided for driving the plugs 
into the end openings of the outer cylinder, so as to pre¬ 
vent its dropping and exposing the cutters. 
Flood Fence.— Elizabeth S. Garrett, Bowney- 
ville, Ind. Feb. 5; No. 293,003. The engraving shows 
a single panel of this flood fence, the dotted lines indi¬ 
cating the position of the parts when the fence is pressed 
down by the force of the current. The inventor claims 
the hinged panel, the anchors, the bent spring, and their 
fastenings. 
Cultivator. —Bominicus Brix, Geneseo, HI. Feb. 
5; No. 293,979, The patented features of this cultivator 
lie in the means for adjusting the position of the plows. 
The forward standard or hanger Is pivoted at its up- 
The rearmost hanger has a laterally projecting perfo¬ 
rated bar upon its upper end, and the plow beam has a 
lug or bolt which engages the perforations, thus locking 
the plow in the position desired. By these means the 
point of the plow may be turned inward or outward at 
will, changing the width of the furrow when plowing, 
and bringing the point of the plow nearer to, or farther 
from the row of plants when cultivating. 
Harrow. — E. V. Caldwell, Harpersville, Ind. Feb. 
5; No. 292,985. This is a combination harrow, capable 
of being adjusted to serve the purposes of a harrow, a cul¬ 
tivator, a rake, a pulverizer, a cotton-thinner, etc. The 
inventor claims the combination of the draft beam, car¬ 
rying two sets of cross-bars, 6,5, upon which are hinged 
the removable tooth beams e,e, with the adjusting rod h, 
and the clamp i. The teeth of the front beam are for¬ 
wardly inclined, while those of the rear beam incline 
backward. The changes required for varying uses, are 
simple and easily made. 
Rotary Harrow.— B. W. Brown, Buckhannon, 
West Va. Feb. 26; No. 291,113. In the engraving the 
driver’s seat d, is partly cutaway to expose the pivot of 
the draft beam, and the connections of the hitch rods/,/. 
By varying the adjustment of the guy-rods and hitch- 
rods, the harrow may be made to turn in either direction, 
or to have no revolution. The patent covers the com¬ 
bination of these parts, and the shovel-carrying rear- 
bar and its connecting rods. 
Harrow for Cultivatihg Listed Corn.— 
Byron Clark, Greenwood, Neb. Feb. 12; No. 293,227. 
In this harrow, a cross section of which is shown in the 
engraving, the beams a, a, and bars 6,6, to which the 
teeth d, are attached, are secured by hinges to the run¬ 
ners c, c, which are joined sled-wise by the arches w. 
The runners guide the harrow, and protect the corn from 
clods and earth, while the furrow is being filled by the 
action of the teeth. The hinged tooth-bars are so con¬ 
nected that the width of the harrow is variable. The 
inclination of the teeth is also adjustable. 
Cultivator.—E A- Smith,Bexter City, Missouri. 
Feb. 26 ; No. 294,091. The object of this invention is to 
secure the plow standard to the frame in such a way, 
that when the share strikes a large stone or other ob¬ 
struction, the upper part of the standard will be auto¬ 
matically disengaged from the beam, and allow the 
share to swing out of the ground. The displaced share 
drops into place again when the handle is lifted. To 
this end the standard is locked in position by a spring- 
held catch which yields to extra pressure, yet allows the 
standard to swing into place by its own weight, when 
the cultivator is lifted from the ground. 
Seeding Rflachine.— A. Shafifer, Cassopolis, 
Mich. Feb. 26 ; No. 294,158. The inventor aims to 
make more certain and uniform the scattering and cov¬ 
ering of seed. To this end he attaches to any gang- 
plow, the plows of which are adjustable to cut at a uni¬ 
form depth, a seeding device which conducts the seed to 
the furrows, and ensures its regular scattering and cov¬ 
ering. An endless carrier running continuously in the 
same direction, and operated by one of the traction 
wheels, delivers the seed continuously to the spouts. 
Seed Drill.— <f- U. Purdy and C. T. Welch, Bel- 
lona, N. T. Feb. 19; No. 293,671. This drill-tooth 
is thought by the inventors to be an improvement on 
the one patented by them a year ago. They claim as 
new the series of hollow, inverted, truncated cones «, 
the conical scatterer d, suspended as shown in the en¬ 
graving, the adjustable guard m, for preventing too 
great scattering of the grain during shallow plowing, 
and the vibrating coverers y. 
Check-Row Corn-Planter.— E.W. Quincy, 
Peoria, Ill. Feb. 26; No. 204,369. The inventor’s object 
is threefold,—to arrange the parts of the machine so that 
the check-row line shall enter the machine at one side of, 
and clear the team, and pass diagonally across the ma¬ 
chine frame, so that the progress of the team shall not be 
impeded by the check-line; to so arrange the seeding 
mechanism that it will be operated in a direct and posi¬ 
tive manner by the check-line ; and to provide in a piv¬ 
oted cup-seeder, the means for delivering a regulated 
quantity of seed at each discharging movement. The 
engraving shows vertical longitudinal sections of the 
machine, and the seed-dropper. 
Potato Digger. —E. Habeck, Town Lake, Wis. 
Feb. 5; No. 292,804. The inventor converts a plow into 
a potato digger, by removing the mould-board, and put¬ 
ting in its place the platform e, and its attachments. 
His patent covers the fvlieel I, with sleeves 6^, braces h 
and k, platform e, shaking-bar/, with its prongs, and the 
notched rod g, in combination with the usual parts of a 
plow-frame. . 
