SOWING-MACHINES. 
having the same improvements and advantages, 
in the manure department, as Garrett’s drill for 
general purposes, with the improved slides to 
regulate the quantity of manure placed directly 
under the management of the attendant who 
follows the drill, and may be altered while the 
implement is proceeding in its work, admitting 
larger or smaller quantities, as may be required 
on hilly lands, or various qualities of soil. In 
order to accommodate the drill to irregular 
ploughed ridges, a pair of rollers are attached to 
a fore carriage, so as to form and press the land 
properly for the deposit of the manure and seed ; 
and what has hitherto been found a difficulty, 
of keeping the depositing coulters on the top of 
the ridges, is remedied in this, by the levers 
being easily steered by a parallel movement, so 
that the seed coulter advances in the exact line 
of the manure coulter. The rakes add greatly 
to the effective working of the drill,—those fore- 
most fillmg up the channel left by the large 
manure coulters, and thus permitting the seed 
coulter to make its work in fresh stirred mould, 
directly above the manure,—and the latter rakes 
will sufficiently cover the seed, leaving a slight 
dip for retaining the smallest quantity of mois- 
ture. 
Garrett’s lever drills for turnip, mangel-wurzel, 
and other seeds with manure may be used to suit 
all methods of cultivation, being made to work 
with any number of levers, having axletrees to 
slip, so as to alter the sizes to the different widths 
of ploughing, and parallel swing or fore carriage 
steerages, enabling the man in attendance to 
guide the coulters or drill, without depending on 
the driving of the horses. On stetch or broad 
work, the rows of seed may be deposited from 12 
inches to any wider space. In these drills the 
turnip and mangel-wurzel seeds are taken up 
separately by the cups, but deposited together 
down the conductors, so as to prevent any un- 
equal mixture of the seeds. The novelties and 
improvements in the manuring machinery are 
the same as in the drill for general purposes, with 
the manure box and apparatus made large, for 
depositing any quantity of every kind of artificial 
or well rotted farm-yard manure. 
Crozier’s turnip-sowing-machine, with appara- 
tus for depositing liquid manure with the seed, 
was invented nearly thirty years ago by Mr. 
Crozier of Alnwick. It differs little in the con- 
struction of its sowing part from the common 
two-row turnip-drill; but is distinguished by 
carrying a liquid manure cistern, fitted with 
cocks anditubes, by which the liquid can be 
deposited along with the seed. 
M‘Naughton’s sowing-machine for carrots and 
turnips was invented in 1833 by Mr. M‘Naughton 
of Irvine. It is intended principally for sowing 
carrot ; ard the seed-distributors are accordingly 
adapted to separate and discharge that peculiarly 
adhesive seed. This is performed by the revolu- 
nee of small spiked wheels in each seed-box, 
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aided by a separate and smaller wheel of the 
same kind revolving in the orifice of the seed- 
box. By aslight change in the distributing ap- 
paratus, the machine is converted into an efficient 
turnip-drill. 
Liston’s turnip drop-drill was invented in 1835 
by Mr. Liston of Blairgowrie. Instead of sowing 
continuously, this machine was intended to de- 
posit a portion of seed and manure together, at 
stated intervals, whereby a saving might accrue, 
both in the seed and manure, and the first thin- 
ning of the braird might be dispensed with. The 
construction of the machine differs both from 
previous turnip and bone-dust sowers, except in 
the depositors; these consist of a short double 
conical roller, which forms the groove or rut, in 
a continuous form, for the reception of the seed 
and manure, and this followed by a short cylin- 
der, partly incased in a cover. The cylinder is 
chambered on the periphery; in these, certain 
quantities of the seed and manure are collected ; 
and as the cylinder revolves and the machine 
progresses, these little collections are discharged 
at the proposed distances. In practice, however, 
it was found that the chambered cylinder did 
not deliver its contents at intervals, but nearly 
uniform, except when the machine travelled so 
slow as to be ineffective. 
Nicol’s turnip and bone-dust drop-drill was 
invented by Mr. Nicol of Guildy in Forfarshire 
in 1840. Its construction is nearly the same as 
that of Liston’s, except the dropping apparatus. 
This consists of a raised fillet encircling the front 
rollers, and having also obtuse dibbles proceeding 
from it at nine-inch spaces, which, while the 
roller levels the top of the drill, forms also a 
smooth channel, with dibble holes at nine inches 
apart, along its surface. Into this channel the 
seed and bones are deposited continuously; but 
an iron instrument or scraper follows close be- 
hind, having a protuberance that follows in the 
channel of the drill; this member sweeps the 
bones and seed before it till they fall into the 
first dibble-hole, and so on. 
The common bean-drill sows only one row at 
a time, and is mounted like a wheel-barrow, and 
is so light as to be easily pushed forward by the 
hand. A groved cylinder works in the bottom 
of its seed-box ; and at each revolution of the 
cylinder, a quantity of seeds, dependent on the 
size of the grooves, is carried round, and falls 
into a tube at the bottom, and is conveyed 
through this to the ground. Motion is conveyed 
to the cylinder from the barrow’s travelling 
wheel by means of cranks. 
The bone-dust sowing - machine is employed © 
for depositing bone-dust or other granulated 
manures in drills, and is adapted to serve three 
drills at each turn. The bone-chest is mounted 
on two wheels, one of which gives motion to the 
three distributing wheels placed inside the chest ; 
the revolutions of the latter give out the manure 
to the sheet-iron tunnels, which deliver it into 
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