1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
377 
n j. 372 
BROADCAST SOWING MACHINE. 
In our August number we spoke of a machine used 
by J. Delafield, Esq., near Geneva, for sowing grain 
broadcast. Believing that machines of this kind may 
be introduced with advantage on many farms, we copy 
from a Scotch work, ( Stephens’ Book of the Farm,) 
the above cut, together with the following remarks: 
“ The Broadcast Sowing Machine has now come 
into pretty general use, especially in those districts 
where the arable system is under the best management, 
and on large farms is nearly superseding the process 
of hand sowing. It not only .sows all the white grains, 
wheat, barley; oats, when sown broadcast, in a very 
uniform manner, and with any desired allowance per 
acre; but it seirves in a superior mannerfor grass-seeds, 
in point of distribution, and, in the case of windy wea¬ 
ther, is greatly superior to hand sowing. This last 
advantage arises chiefly from the low position of the 
discharging orifices, as compared with the height of 
the hand in sowing; but partly, also, from the more 
direct discharge of the seed from the machine; its ve¬ 
locity of discharge, likewise," and the distance it has to 
fall, being always uniform. The nice gradation of 
the discharge is one of its chief qualifications, for it may 
be adjusted to sow any required quantity per acre, be¬ 
tween the lowest and the highest, that may be judged 
expedient, and in all eases, from the uniformity of the 
distribution, a considerable saving in seed may be ef¬ 
fected.” 
The seed-chest is usually made eighteen feet long. 
This length rendered it inconvenient to pass gate¬ 
ways; and to obviate the difficulty, the eldest is now 
made in sections, the middle part being nine feet, and 
the extremes four and a half feet each, so that it may 
be readily folded up to the width of nine feet. We 
omit a minute description of the machine, as our ob¬ 
ject is principally to call attention to the general 
plan. The machine used by Mr. Delafield is manu¬ 
factured by P. Seymour, Jr., of East Bloomfield, On¬ 
tario county. It is probably as good or better than 
the Scotch one, from which our cut was taken. Par¬ 
ticulars in regard to the construction of Mr. S.’s ma¬ 
chine, can doubtless be obtained by applying to him. 
EXHIBITIONS OF AG. SOCIETIES. 
New-York. Ontario County. —Show held at Ca¬ 
nandaigua on the 12th and 13th of October. The 
weather on the first day was very unfavorable; but the 
show notwithstanding was such as indicated increased 
attention to the improvement of stock. There was a 
good display of cattle, among which were several fine 
Durham bulls, several yoke of good working oxen, and 
a good show of horses, swine, and sheep. The display 
of fruits, flowers, manufactures, specimens of mechani¬ 
cal ingenuity, 8te., was large. 
Wayne County.— Show at Lyons, Oct. 6th and 7th. 
From the reports of committees, published in the Sen¬ 
tinel, we infer that the show was in all respects credi¬ 
table to the farmers of the county. There appears 
to have been a large display of stock; and from the 
list of premiums there seems to have been no deficiency 
in the other departments. 
Clinton County. —Show held at Keeseville on the 
5th of October. The Keeseville Republican says—“ the 
universal expression was that in the extent and variety 
of productions exhibited, the number of people present, 
and the spirit and animation which characterized the 
whole proceedings, this fair far exceeded anything of 
the kind that has ever before been held by the Society.” 
Queens County. —The sixth exhibition of this So¬ 
ciety was held at Hempstead on the 8th of October. 
The weather was very unfavorable. The Inquirer says: 
“ The rain commenced falling in torrents at an early 
hour, and continued till evening. Under such circum¬ 
stances it is remarkable that there should have been so 
much for exhibition as there was. The stock was gen¬ 
erally good, some parts fine. Other parts of the show 
were highly creditable to the county. The crowd in at¬ 
tendance was great—.being from all parts of the county, 
many from Suffolk, Kings, New-York city, and some 
from more remote places still.” 
Connecticut. Middlesex County. —Show held 
at Middletown. From the report of the committees, 
published in the Sentinel and Witness, we learn that 
the exhibition was large—fully equal, we presume, to 
any former year. We notice, by the awards of pre¬ 
miums, that the use of bones, as manure, of which 
some account was given last year, has been continued 
with the same favorable results the present year. 
Enoch Coe obtained, it is said, twenty-three bushels of 
rye per acre, by the application of twenty bushels of 
bone-dust, on land which, the committee say would not, 
in their opinion, have produced more than five bushels 
per acre under “ ordinary management.” The address 
to this Society was by Rev. F. J. Goodwin. We shall 
notice it more fully hereafter. 
Ohio. Trumbull County.— We are indebted to 
our friend George Hezlep for an account of this show, 
which was held at Warren on the 13th and 14 th of 
October. This was the second exhibition of this So¬ 
ciety, and appears to have been well attended, and the 
display of stock of all kinds, horticultural productions, 
manufactured articles, &c., is represented to have been 
large, and of a character which did honor to the citi¬ 
zens of the county. The address was by Prof. E. P. 
Barrows, of the Western Reserve College. 
Pennsylvania. Susquehannah County. —Show 
held at Montrose, October 19th. From an account 
published in the Montrose Register, it appears that the 
exhibition was interesting and encouraging. A pre¬ 
mium was awarded for a crop of 119$ bushels of In¬ 
dian corn, produced on one acre; also for a crop of ru- 
ta-baga, 520 bushels produced on half an acre. 
