14 Implements of Hufbandry.—Drill-Machines.

it can be raifed or depreffed according to the nature of the crop, and the intention

with which it is employed. Drill- Machines.

In the conftruétion of all implements of this fort the ereateft attention fhould be paid to have them as fimple in their mechanifm as poflible, in order that they may be ufed without difficulty, by thofe who have but little knowledge of the nature of fich machinery: much care fhould alfo be taken to have them fo made, as that they may perform their work with correctnefs; that the feeds, of whatever kind, may be delivered and depofited in the ground with the greateft evennefs and regularity; and that they may not be bruifed or injured in any way during the operation; as the want of proper attention to thefe particulars feems to have confiderably retard- ed the progrefs of the drill fyftem of cultivation.

Various implements of this fort are in ufe in different parts of the ifland, which are contrived for the purpofe of ftirring the earth, and drilling different kinds of grain and feeds at the fame time; but in the choice of fuch tools the farmer fhould be chiefly directed by the fituation of his ground, the nature of the foil, and the kinds of grain which he intends to cultivate. In general, however, the more fimple the conftruction of fuch in{ftruments, the better they perform their work: one and the fame fort of drill cannot, however, anfwer on farms of large and{mall extent; they fhould, therefore, be adapted to the fize of the farm, as well as the nature of the foil and crop that is to be cultivated.

The machine which was propofed and made ufe of by the ingenious and in- telligent improver of the drill hufbandry, feems to have been by no means well adapted. to the purpofes of the fyftem, and on that account probably contributed to retard the progrefs of the art. It neither few the feed in fufficient quantity, or with fufficient accuracy, though its general principle appears to have been fufliciently clear and fimple, from its having become the model of many fubfequent implements of the fame kind. Alate ingeniousauthor has recommended many interefting and ufeful improvements in this machine, fuch as enlarging that part of the axle-tree which delivers the grain into a cylinder of fome inches in diameter, with excavations in the rim, which rim rifes above the corn in the feed-box, and lets drop again into the {feed-box whatever grains fill the holes above the level of the rim, as that fide of the cylinder afcends. By thefe ingenious contrivances the quantity of feed delivered is rendered uniform, and none of the grain is in the way of being crufhed or otherwife injured,‘The whole machine thus becomes fimple in its conftruction, and of no great expence, which are circumftances of the greateft importance in fuch machines.