apron feeds the fertilizer and drops it with the potatoes, the furrow being closed by a pair of disks which follow the seed tube. Cultivators and Weeders. It is important, after the seed has been planted and sprouted, to keep the ground in a porous condition, in order that it may absorb and retain moisture, and be easy of penetration by the growing roots. This result is
171 of plants ; a draft frame, secured to the axle ; and a pair of cultivator frames, carrying small shovels for breaking up the soil. These cultivator frames are hinged at their forward ends to the main frame, and are supported by springs, so that they would be normally raised from the ground ; but the necessary pressure is applied by the feet of the rider, or by the hands of the operator in case he is walking behind the machine. The latest forms of the cultivator, as shown in Fig. 19 substitute for the shovels two sets of concavo-convex disks’ operating precisely as in the disk plough and harrow before mentioned. Fig. 20 shows a new type of weeding machine now C0 1 g nt0 use and “J * > consisting of a wheeled frame, to which the team is attached, and from which depend a number of spring wires, whose action is to rake and tear out the weeds. A lever permits the operator to adjust the angle of the teeth with the ground.
Fig. 18.—Cultivator. attained by the use of cultivators, and their construction will be easily understood from Fig. 18.
Fig. 21.—Combination implement. In Fig.. 21 is shown a very interesting implement, which is intended for gardeners, and is pushed by the operator. By changing one part for another, by simply detaching them and making the necessary substitution the machine may be used as a hill or drill seeder and marker, a plough, a wheel hoe, a cultivator, and a harrow or rake. Harvesters. Fig. 19.—Disk cultivator. Mowing machines have long been in use, but have These machines are made as walking cultivators; but, as m all the implements before described, the tendency is been constantly improved in construction, and the modern to provide a machine upon which the operator may ride, machine far exceeds in durability and convenience of the drawing shows one adapted for either mode of opera-
Fig. 20.—Weeder. It comprises an arched axle, to extend over the row
Fig. 22.—Mower. operation that which was in use a few years ago. It is now made almost entirely of iron and steel, with very
