18 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
Jan, 
Samuelson’3 Rotary Digger. 
In a recent number we copied the remarks of the 
Mark Lane.Express upon the practical working of Sam- 
uelson’s Digging Machine. We present a superior cut 
of the machine, which will show more clearly than any 
description its operation. It is the invention of Mr. 
B. Samuelson, of Banbury, England, and consists of a 
simple frame running on two wheels, whieh, in their 
revolution, cause a series of forks or prongs to loosen 
and pulverize the earth to a depth of eight or ten 
inches, and over a width of three feet. Five or six 
horses, according to the state of the soil, attended by 
two men, are able to work over five or six acres a day. 
As the prongs come round they bring up the soil and 
let it fall backward in a well pulverized and mixed 
state, and to keep them free from earth, each circle 
of prongs works between a corresponding set of sta¬ 
tionary clearing teeth on the frame. We are informed 
that at a trial near Banbury, on a t! friable calcareous 
loam, pretty stony, and fallow, after an autumnal plow¬ 
ing, and with here and there some couch grass upon it, 
after the passage of the machine, the pedestrian sank 
in the soil, as he walked, two or three inches; and on 
testing it with a walking stick, it showed a looseness 
down to eight or nine inches.” It has been extensive¬ 
ly introduced into Scotland, and the Eoyal Agricultural 
Society of England awarded it a silver medal after a 
thorough trial at Gloucester. The perspective sketch, 
represents the Digger at work in the field. The depth of 
entrance of the prongs is adjusted by a handle, geared 
to a pinion, working in a segmental tooth-rack on the 
frame-work. It will be readily apparent that this, 
machine will pulverize the soil more effectually than 
the plow and the harrow. The only objection to it is 
the great amount of power necessary to operate it, but 
this may be obviated by reducing the width of the 
machine or simplifying the machinery. It will un¬ 
doubtedly be many years before an implement of this 
sort will supercede the time-honored plow ; but the 
principle of digging the soil and reducing it to a finer 
tilth than it is possible for the plow to do, is fully es¬ 
tablished. The more thoroughly the soil can be stirred, 
mixed and pulverized, the greater will be its produc¬ 
tiveness; — 
Plaster for Wheat. 
Could you or any of your numerous subscribers in¬ 
form me through The Cultivator, whether plaster sown 
on winter grain in the fall would be beneficial or not; 
if so, how much would be required to the acre T A. D. 
We know of but few experiments in the application 
of this manure for wheat, and none of these were suc¬ 
cessful enough to warrant its use. We believe this has 
been the usual result everywhere. Early spring would 
doubtless be the best time, should our correspondent 
wish to try the experiment. Its beneficial effects may 
be communicated to wheat in a much more effectual 
way, namely, by applying the plaster to clover, and 
then turning under the clover as a manuring for the 
following wheat crop. About one bushel per acre com¬ 
monly produces as beneficial a result as a larger quan¬ 
tity, and the best time is in tho spring, just as the 
young plants are beginning to throw out their first 
spring leaves. —— 
Wheat Crop in Western New-York. —Dr. Lee 
says that the single county of Monroe, N. Y., annually 
produces one-third more wheat than Maine, New Hamp¬ 
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Con¬ 
necticut, put together. 
