and fill their hand with the seed as if in a shovel, and make long casts, causing some of the seed to reach across the ridge from open-furrow to open-furrow. Such a sower will spill the seed behind the hand, and make bad work in wind. The step should be short, the casts frequent, and the seed held firmly in the hand, when the whole work is under complete command. The sower should never bustle, and try to hurry through his work: he should commence with such a steady pace as he will be able to maintain during the day's work. Some conceited sowers always sow a whole ridge with one cast, and if they do it well, it must be by mere chance; for, while they are obliged to walk on the side of the crown of the ridge, they must cast high before the grain can reach from one open-furrow to the other; and, with the least wind moving, there is no chance of making good work. And even in a decided calm, the side of the ridge on the left hand must receive the cast in the opposite way from the other side-that is, from the crown to the open-furrow; while the correct way is, to receive it from the open-furrow to the crown-because, when any stray grains fly away from the cast farther than they should do, they will fall near the crown, where the thickest part of the soil is to be found on the ridge; whereas, in the other case, the stray grains will fall into the open-furrow, where they are not wanted, and where they will most probably perish.

2321. A sower with one hand only attempts to sow half a ridge with one cast. When the ridge is single, fig. 20, he keeps the open-furrow on his right hand; when it is double, that is, cast together, fig. 22, he goes first up and down the ridge, round the crown, and then up and down on the furrow-brows, keeping the open-furrows on his right hand. When the land is ploughed two-out-and-two-in, fig. 25, a mark of some sort, such as a feering-pole, fig. 18, at both ends of the ridges, will be required to keep him in the proper line between the crown and open-furrows; but when two sowers work together, they guide one another in the position to be kept on such ploughed land.

2322. A sower with both hands makes the casts alternate, the hand and foot of the same side moving simultaneously, and,

A

moving along the crown of the ridge, casts the seed from the crown towards the openfurrow on both sides-thereby violating the rule of good sowing in throwing the stray grains into the open-furrow. man who sows in this manner must cast high, to avoid striking his hands upon the seed-basket, and in a windy day has no command over his work. I can see no advantage attending this mode of sowing over the other; but, on the contrary, a considerable risk of scattering the seed unequally-for, however dexterous an ambidexter sower may become, his left arm will not make so perfect a cast as his right, if he is a right-handed person. In calm weather, he may get on tolerably well-as also with the wind direct in his face or in his back; but a side-wind must puzzle him, for, while adjusting himself to it for one of the hands, he places the other in the most disadvantageous position. In short, he ought not to sow with both hands in wind.

2323. The mode I have seen in Ireland of sowing is to make a step, then stand still, and cast the seed with two short and one long swing of the arm. This is slow work. The process seemed very similar to what I have witnessed in nursery grounds, in the sowing of the seeds of forest trees and shrubs.

2324. Pickled wheat annoys the sower, the caustic lime acting upon the skin of the sowing hand, and shrivelling it. It also rises in impalpable dust, and adheres to the eyelids and lips, and even sticks upon the face when in a state of perspiration. It is scarcely possible to avoid this annoyance, especially when a gentle wind blows upon the back-the face is then almost smothered in the eddy. To prevent future bad consequences of the lime, the hands and face should first be washed with milk, and the milk then washed clean off with warm water and soap; and, lastly, the eyelids, lips, and back of the hand, anointed with cream or butter.

over the two upright iron stanchions k k', the tops of which i'i' form the suspending fulcra for the chain, while its extremities are secured at the points i" i" with adjusting nuts. These chains support the two ends of the chest, which is divided in three pieces.

2329. The sowing-geer of the machine is connected with the main axle of the carriage by the pitch-chain a. Shafts extend the entire length of the chest, coupled at the junction of the segments of the chest by means of small clutch couplings attached to the ends of the shaft, and these engage or disengage of themselves when the segments of the chest are let down or folded up. The shafts are armed with the seed-wheels, 32 being required for an 18 feet chest. The wheels are of cast-iron, of very light fabric; their points being slightly rounded, to adapt them to the concave groove or cup that is formed in the back of the chest around each discharging orifice.

2330. Corresponding to each seed-wheel, a discharging orifice is formed in the back of the chest. The position of the seedwheels, in relation to the bottom u of the chest, is such as to make the teeth turn at about one quarter of an inch clear of the bottom. The seed orifices are defended by iron plates, the fixing of which requires some attention, in order that the orifices may exactly coincide with those of the slides; without perfect coincidence in these two parts, the sowing will be unequal. To effect the precise adjustment of the orifices, the slide is made in two halves, and, at each end of the chest, an adjusting screw acts in a nut attached to the end of the chest, the point of each screw being brought to bear against the end of the slide; and their shutting is effected by moving the slide still further to the right hand, by means of the levers w, until the orifices are entirely closed. Both ends of the chest having undergone this operation, which is done in an instant, but in reverse directions, the machine may go to any distance without discharging a grain; but whenever it has been turned into the next ridge, the levers we are thrown in the opposite direction, moving the slide towards the adjusting screw ; and this being done at both ends, the ori

fices will have attained precisely the same area as before; and thus the shutting and opening again to the same area, and of course the same discharge, is effected for any number of turns, without the smallest variation, so long as the screw remains unaltered. The sowing-geer of this machine has undergone a variety of changes. In the example before us, the pitch-chain is employed to communicate motion from the first mover-the carriage axle-to the seed-wheels. It is simple, but it keeps the seed-wheels constantly in motion, whether sowing or not, which is supposed to have a tendency to injure the grain that lies in contact with the wheels; but to avoid any apprehension on this score, a gearing may be employed, which disengages the seed-wheels from the first mover by means of a lever.

2331. For the purpose of equalising the distribution of the seed over the surface of the ground after it has left the discharging orifice, the bottom-board of the seed-chest is made to project beyond the back of the chest, forming an apron on which the seed is first received from the orifice, and, being thus checked in its descent, is thereby more uniformly scattered over the surface. Another precaution is taken, the better to secure a uniform discharge, in the case of sowing on ground that has a high inclination. In sowing up hill, in such situations the weight of the seed is thrown more upon that side of the chest from which it is discharged, tending thereby to increase the discharge. On sowing down hill, on the other hand, the effect of pressure is reversed, and the discharge will be less. To obviate these inconveniences, a tilting motion has been introduced to the seed-chest, but which of course renders the machine a little more costly.

2332. As the seed-chest is 18 feet in length, and it may sometimes be desirable to reduce its breadth of sowing to 16 or to 15 feet, to suit ridges of these breadths, the reduction is effected by stopping two, three, or more of the seed-orifices at each end, by means of a flat swing-clasp turning upon a pin.

2333. In using this machine, it is frequently drawn by one horse; but it forms

a rather heavy draught, and is, therefore, more frequently the work of two horses. The chest is filled from end to end with the seed-corn, and, the horses walking in the furrow, the machine sows the half ridge on either side. When the chest has been filled, and the machine brought to that position which places the horses in the furrow, the sower having previously determined the degree of opening in the orifices that will deliver the desired quantity per acre, he throws each slide outward against its graduating screw, which will produce the proper opening; and, this done, the horses are driven forward. On arriving at the farther end of the ridge, and before entering upon the head-ridge, the slides are withdrawn towards the centre, closing up the vents; the machine is then turned round on the head-ridge, and takes up a position on the next furrow, when the process is repeated, and so on till the field is sown all over, the head-ridges being the last portion of the work; and here the blinding of the extreme orifices come frequently into play, if the head-ridges are of less breadth than the single ridges of the field, which they should never be.

2334. The eye of an experienced sower will, on passing over a few yards with the machine, by simple ocular inspection, be able to judge of the quantity of seed he is bestowing upon the soil.

perimental accuracy is required, the sower may then put into the chest as much grain as will just cover the seed-wheels, and then measure in one or two bushels, and proceed to sow this until as much remains as will just cover the wheels again, so that the measured quantity is found to have been discharged. By now measuring the number of yards in length that have been sown with two bushels, he will ascertain by calculation the proportional quantity required for an acre. Thus, let the intended quantity to be sown upon an acre be 3 bushels, or any other number, and that 1 bushel has been sown in the experiment, which has covered 276 yards of a 15 feet ridge, or two half-ridges equal to 15 feet, or 5 yards. The imperial acre contains 4840 square yards, and this divided by 5, the yards in the breadth of the ridge, we have 968 as the number of lineal yards in length of a 15 feet ridge

to make up an acre; and one-third of this, or 322.66 lineal yards, is the extent that should have been covered by 1 bushel of seed-corn. The machine having, as supposed, covered only 276 yards, it follows that the sowing is about oneseventh part of the bushel too thick-the graduating screws, therefore, must be turned forward a little, and the experiment repeated, if thought necessary. It is seldom, however, that such experiments will be required in the hands of a practical

Sower.

2335. In reference to the inconvenience attending the great length of the seedchest, when it is in one length, it may be observed, that the method by which it is shifted is this:-In its working state, the chest is kept in its bolsters by means of two quadrants attached to the lower part of the chest, one being on each side of the carriage: these are formed concentric with the curvature of the bolster, and a bolt, over which the quadrant slides, is screwed into the side of the carriage, and this retains the chest in its place. When it is found necessary to move the chest, the two bolts are unscrewed, which sets the chest at liberty; it is then lifted from its bolsters and laid longitudinally on the carriage. In this operation, however, the pitch-chain, when that medium of power is employed, has to be disengaged by withdrawing a coupling-link from the chain; but when the lever is employed, there is nothing required but the unscrewing of the quadrant-bolts, to set the chest at liberty. It is then lifted and laid longitudinally on the carriage as before.

2336. The price of these machines ranges from £10 to £12. Being a machine necessarily composed of many parts, it cannot be constructed at a small cost; but it cannot be regarded as a costly machine, when it sows all the species of the cereal grains equally well, as well as the grass seeds.

2337. The Common or East Lothian Drill-sowing machine, is here taken to illustrate the principles of the drill machine. Though it may be deficient in some points as compared with those of Berwickshire and Roxburghshire, yet its extreme simplicity and cheapness has brought it into very extensive adoption, not only in East Lothian,

but in other districts where the drill system is followed. Fig. 205 is a view in perspective of this machine, having drills to sow six rows, which is the size most generally used, chiefly because it can be drawn by one horse; but also, in the event of its being employed along swelling ridges, its covering but a small breadth secures a nearly equal depth for the deposition of the seed, which cannot be easily done under the same circumstances if the machine is mounted with a greater number of coulters. But it follows from the pe

e

the two side-bars bb, which are crossed by the bar m m, bolted to the side-bars, serving a special purpose, to be afterwards noticed; and these four parts form the simple frame-work of the machine. The seed-chest c is placed between the sidebars b, and attached to these and the bed-plank. The chest is mounted similar to the broadcast machine, (2328,) except that, in place of the apron on which the seed falls in the broadcast, the orifices deliver the seed directly into a small hopper-shaped aperture formed in the bed-plank. The axle of one of the carriage-wheels is d, coupled to the small shaft of the seed-wheels, thereby giving them the requisite motion, their revolution coinciding with that of the wheels, and the opposite wheel d turns upon an axle fixed permanently upon the bed-frame. The horse-shafts e are jointed to the bedplank. The coulters kk are furnished at the lower end with a pointed sheath of sheet-iron. The seed, on leaving the orifices, falls into the funnel-shaped receptacle

in the upper side of the bed-plank, from which it passes down the tubes ii into the sheaths of the coulters, by which it is deposited into the rut formed by the sheaths.

2339. From the construction and action of this machine, and the resistance of the soil to the passage of the coulters through it, there is a constant tendency, produced by the traction of the horse when the machine is in action, to elevate the extremity of the handles; and by thus swinging upon the axle of the wheels, the coulters are withdrawn from their action on the soil, and from forming the rut for the reception of the seed. The tendency thus produced being greater than a man is capable of continuing to contend with, is counteracted by the application of a balance-chain, producing a change of direction in the line of draught, and of the point of attachment of the draught. When the chain is brought under tension, and the shafts borne up by the horse, the resistance to the coulters is transferred to the back of