Part 35

Now I must return to _Fig._ 15. where the Spindle E having its Four Wreaths fixt on it, we turn it round with our Hand, to see whether the Wreaths are put on true; and when they are so, neither the Spindle, nor the Hoppers, can move end-ways: Tho’ the Spindle be pretty hard to turn round, the Wheels will soon cause it to turn easily. Whilst the Spindle is in this Posture, we turn the Hopper Bottom upwards, and mark the Spindle for cutting the Notches in the manner before directed; and then we take off the Spindle, and cut the Notches, and also cut each End of the Spindle square, up to a Shoulder at each End, so that the Wheels may come easily on without knocking or thrusting; and then we return the Spindle to its Place, and put on the Wheels, pinning them on with each a long Nail, which being crooked at the Ends, prevent it from falling out, but may be very easily pulled out with the Claws of a Hammer; but we must take care, that neither the square Ends of the Spindle, nor the square Holes in the Naves (or Hubs) of the Wheels (into which they enter), be taper; for, if they are taper, the Wheels will be apt to work themselves off.

The Piece of Wood, _Fig._ 18. is that which goes over the Standard, and, being placed in the Hopper, as F. in _Fig._ 15. draws that Part of the Hopper by its Inside _a b_ bearing against the fore Part of the Standard; and that Part of it from _b_ to _c_, being the Breadth of the Standard, bears against its inner Inside, to prevent the Hopper from going any farther towards that End. This Piece of Wood is fastened to the Boards of the Hopper, either by Screws or Nails: This Piece, from _d_ to _e_, must be of such a Thickness, that the Standard, bearing against its Inside _b c_, may be equidistant from each Board, to which this Piece is fastened. The Part, or fore Side of this Piece _f g_, must be the Length of the Distance between Board and Board, to which it is fastened; and that is exactly Four Inches. Its Thickness and Depth must be such as may make it strong enough for the Purposes intended.

The Piece marked _Fig._ 19. is the Opposite of the former, and to be placed in the same manner, and as it is seen marked G in _Fig._ 15. observing always, that the Part of it, which holds the Hopper from moving end-ways, must always be on the Inside of the Standard; for, if these Pieces should bear against the Outsides of the Standards, the Hopper could have no Play upon them, nor could either of the Wheels rise up without raising the Share (that was next to it) out of the Ground; but, being thus placed, either Wheel may rise without the other, and without raising the Share.

I say more of this, because it is a Point wherein young Workmen are apt to mistake.

Thus having shewn, in _Fig._ 15. how the Hopper is guided and drawn at the lower Part, I come next to shew how it is held and drawn at its upper Part; for which the Piece of Wood, _Fig._ 20. being a competent Breadth and Thickness, Four Inches long, is fixt in between the Boards with Nails or Screws; and is H in _Fig._ 15. The Standard passing up betwixt this and the fore Side of the Hopper, its fore Surface bearing against this Bar, and its hinder Surface against the Hopper; so that the Hopper may rise and sink easily upon the Standard at Top, being in the Middle on the fore Side of the Hopper; there will be an equal Distance of each Side, for either Wheel to rise, without the Standard striking against the Sides of the Hopper to hinder its rising. There is another Bar equal to this, and has the same Office, at the other End of the Hopper, marked I. Likewise the Bar D is of the same Use with these mentioned short Bars, and they help to strengthen one another.

When the Wheels are put on till they reach near to the Wreaths, they will stand with their Rings, or Circles, Two Feet Three Inches asunder.

We set them as near together as conveniently we can; because when they are too wide, they are apt to draw the Plough towards one Side of the Ridge; and sometimes, when the Ridge is high, the Hopper might bear upon the Funnels; and then the Wheels, being carried above the Ground, would not turn to bring out the Seed: And that these Wheels may come the nearer together, their Spokes are set almost perpendicular; so that the Wheels are not concave, as other Wheels are. This Hopper is shewn, put on upon its Standards, in its Place, in _Fig._ 21. where the mentioned Bar D, which holds the Hopper together at Top, is seen, as also the Four Wreaths, and likewise the hinder End of the Seed-boxes standing over the Funnels, with their Trunks underneath them. Here also the back Part of the fore Hopper is seen, with its Seed-box standing over the fore Funnel: Its Mouth also is seen at A; as also the Top of its fore Side held up by the thing (_Fig._ 22.) like the Carrier of a Latch, with the Nails in it, which fasten it to the Top of the fore Side of the Hopper, and give room for either of its Wheels to rise.

This fore Hopper may easily be described by the Figure of a Box, like the other already described, at its Ends, which are of the same Shape with the Inside of the Box, _Fig._ 12. but much lower, being Seven Inches and an half deep, and Sixteen Inches long; and the Breadth of its Bottom is determined by the Length of the Seed-box, and a little wider at Top, on account of the Bevel which poises it: It carries no more Seed than one End of the hinder Hopper; but it is capable of holding more; but we do not fill it quite, lest some of the Seed should fly over in jolting, its Mouth being so much longer than the other.

This Hopper is kept in its Place, from moving end-ways upon the Spindle, by a Wreath fixed to the Spindle at each End of the Box, in the same manner as has been described for holding the other Hopper. The Wreaths most proper for this Purpose are the Sort described in _Fig._ 17. but the other Sort described in _Fig._ 16. and even made with Wood, will suffice; but then we must take care to make the Hole at the End of the Hopper of a considerable Thickness, that it may not wear the Spindle, which, by reason of its great Length, is the more liable to bend, and be cut by the Edges of the Holes; which Cutting cannot be prevented but by the Thickness of the Holes, or by such Wreaths as that of _Fig._ 17.

We sometimes make this Hopper exactly like a common Box, without any Part of its Ends descending below the Bottom; and, in that Case, we place a narrower Piece of Board at each End of the Hopper, like that of _Fig._ 23. in which Figure, the Hole A being put on upon the Spindle, the Piece of Board is fastened on by a Screw and Nut thro’ the Hole B, near the Top of the End of the Hopper, and by another Screw and Nut thro’ the Hole C, near the Bottom of the Hopper. Another such a Piece of Board, fixed on in the same manner to the opposite End of the Hopper, holds this long Hopper parallel to its Spindle, that passes thro’ the Holes of these Two Pieces, and thro’ the Brass Seed-box, which is fixed up to the Bottom, in the Middle betwixt them.

There are Two Methods for letting the Seed pass from a long Hopper into the Seed-box. The first is that of cutting the Hole through its Bottom, in the manner that has been shewn in _Fig._ 14. The other is that which cannot be used in a Hopper so short as the Boxes of our hinder Hoppers are; but in the fore Hopper, or any other long Hopper, we can place the Brass Seed-box to a Bottom made for the Purpose, like that in _Fig._ 24. where there is a Piece of Board on the fore Part of the Hopper from End to End, as _a b_, and another on the hinder Part of the Hopper, as _c d_. Then the fore Part of the Brass Seed-box, being placed under the Piece _a b_, is screwed up to it at _e_, and the hinder Part of the Seed-box under _c d_ screwed up to it at _f_; then the Bottom of the Hopper, being open in the Middle, is shut by very thin Boards, _g_ and _h_, fixed up to the mentioned Pieces: These Boards having their upper Surface even with the upper Edges of the Brass Box, the Seed can no way arch in coming into the Mortise of the Seed-box. Whichever of these Two Methods be made use of, in a long Hopper, the Bottom must be fixed to the Two Sides, by small Bars of Wood of about Three quarters of an Inch square, to which the Bottom and Sides are fastened by Nails, in the manner that the Ends and Sides of the hinder Hoppers are fastened to their Posts, which stand in their Corners.

We take the same Method for cutting the Notches in this Spindle, as has been described for cutting the Notches in the other Spindle.

But observe, That the great Length of this Spindle requires it to be the larger; and we make it of an Inch and Three quarters Diameter, the other being only an Inch and an half: We therefore bore the great Hole or Cylinder of its Brass Seed-box a quarter of an Inch in Diameter larger than of the Brass Seed-boxes of the hinder Hoppers; and we commonly make a Notch more in the Circumference of this Spindle, because the Semidiameters of its Wheels must be as much greater than of the hinder Wheels, as is the Thickness of the Plank, and the Ends of the Limbers which are betwixt this Spindle and the upper Surface of the Two Beams.

We make all our Spindles of clear-quarter’d Ash, without Knots or Crooks; and when they are well dry’d, and made perfectly round, and of equal Diameter from one End to the other, by the Prong-maker, we pay a Peny _per_ Foot for them at the first Hand, and they will now-and-then have something more for the largest Size; but we are only curious to have the middle Part of this long Spindle exact; for we graft on a Piece at each End, which does not require any Exactness: The Graftings are seen at _a a_ at one End, and _b b_ at the other End of the Spindle (in this _Fig._ 21.) by Four flattish Iron Rings driven on upon the grafted Parts, as they appear under those Letters in the Middle. Between each Pair of these Rings, we drive a small Iron Pin thro’ the Joints at _c_ and at _d_, to keep the Grafts from separating end-ways; and if they are not tight enough, we make them so, by Wedges driven in betwixt them and the Spindle.

This fore Hopper is drawn by the Spindle, and the Spindle is drawn by the Two double Standards B and C, betwixt whose Forks it is placed, as appears in this Figure; the Distance between each Fork, or double Standard, being exactly the Diameter of the Spindle, so that the Spindle may have just room to rise and sink there, and no more.

The Hopper and Spindle are guided, or kept in their Place, from moving end-ways, by Two Wreaths screw’d on to the Spindle, the one at _e_, and the other at _f_; each of which Wreaths, bearing against the Surfaces of both the Legs of each double Standard, on the Sides next to the Hopper, prevent the Spindle and Hopper from moving towards either End; and yet admit the Wheels, or either of them, to rise and sink without raising either Side of the Plough, contrary to what would happen, if the Wreaths were placed on the Outsides of the Standards next to the Wheels.

We make these Wreaths a little different from the other Sort of Wreaths, which turn against the Holes; we make them of a greater Diameter, lest they should at any time get in betwixt the Legs of the double Standards, in case the Standards should be loose, or bend: Therefore we make the Diameter of each of these Wreaths, at least, Two Inches and Three quarters: We always make them of Wood, and of a peculiar Shape, taking off their Edges next the Standards, which Edges would be an Impediment to the Rising of one End of the Spindle without the other. So that, for making these Wreaths, we may form a Piece of Wood of the Shape of a Skittle-bowl (or an oblate Spheroid) having an Inch and Three-quarter Hole bor’d thro’ its Middle, and then cut by its Diameter (which is about Three Inches) in Two Halves, each of which will be one of these Wreaths; and they must be placed on the Spindle, with their convex Sides bearing against their respective Standards.

The Diameter of the fore Wheels is about Thirty Inches, as the Diameter of the hinder Wheels is about Twenty-two.

The fore Spindle should be of such a Length, that its square Ends, E and F, may come out Three or Four Inches farther than the Hubs (or Stocks) of the Wheels; so that there may be room to shift the Wheels towards either End, for making several Sets of Notches, for the Use of the Seed-box.

Observe, Tho’ the fore Hopper is drawn by its Spindle, yet the hinder Spindle is drawn by its Hopper.

The Reason of this great Distance between the Two fore Wheels is not so much for their serving as Marking Wheels to this particular Drill; which being drawn only upon a Ridge, its Top is a sufficient Direction for leading the Horse to keep the Rows parallel to one another, if the Ridges are so; but if the Wheels were much nearer together than they are, and yet more than Six Feet asunder, the Wheels going on the Sides of the next Ridges would be apt to turn the Drill out of the Horse-path towards one Side, not permitting the Drill to follow directly after the Horse; and if the Wheels should stand at Six or Seven Feet Distance from one another, then they must go in the Furrows which are on each Side of the Six-feet Ridge: This would occasion their Hopper to bear upon the Plank, which would carry the Wheels above the Ground, and no Seed would be turned out of the Hopper, unless the Wheels were of an extraordinary Height[268]; and the Height requir’d for them would be very uncertain, some Furrows being much deeper than others; but the Tops of contiguous Ridges are generally of an equal Height, whether the Furrows betwixt them be deep or shallow; for we seldom make Ridges of an unequal Height in the same Field: Therefore there can be no need to change the Height of our Wheels, that are to go upon the Middle of the Ridges; but if they went in the Furrows they must be of a different Height when used for drilling of high Ridges, from what would be required when used for drilling low Ridges.

[268] Notwithstanding the Reasons given, and that I have never used Wheels of such an Height as might be necessary for going in the Furrows, yet it may not be amiss to try such; because with them the Spindle needeth not to be more than half the Length of one that is carried by low Wheels: And high Wheels will allow the Funnel to be much larger, so that altho’ the Spindle go higher from it, no Seed will drop beside a large Funnel; but there is not room for a large one under low Wheels.

I did not think it necessary to describe the Manner of making Drill-wheels any otherways than by shewing them in the _Plates_; but I will observe here, that they are to be made very light: One of mine, that is 30 Inches high, weighs Five Pounds and an half; it has a Circle or Ring of Iron, whose Depth is half an Inch, and its Thickness a quarter of an Inch; also very thin Iron Stock-bands to hold the Nave or Stock from splitting. The Circle is held on the Spokes by small flat Iron Pins on each Side; and each Spoke has a Ring of Iron to secure its End from being split by driving in of the Pins. We also make the Drill-wheels less concave than other Wheels are.

One Reason why the hinder Shares are shorter than the fore Share (and consequently the fore Part of their Sheats less oblique) is, that they may be set the nearer to the Plank; and I have had a Drill with Five Shares in the Plank, Fourteen Inches asunder, and Four of these hinder Sheats following in another Rank, whose Shares were less than Three Inches long; so that their Beams were set so far forwards, that one Hopper (by a Contrivance that carried the Seed forwards to the fore Rank, and backwards to the other Rank) supply’d the Seed to both Ranks of Trunks, and planted St. Foin in Rows Seven Inches asunder, when the Ground was too rough to be planted with Rows at that Distance by one Rank of Shares.

It may be objected, that the fore Part of these hinder Sheats might not be oblique enough to raise up the Strings of Roots or Stubble, which might come across them in their Way; but this Inconvenience is remedied by the greater Obliquity of the fore Sheat (or Sheats), which clears the Way for the hinder Sheats, by raising out of the Ground such Strings, _&c._ which might annoy them; especially, in this Wheat-drill, where the fore Share so clears the way of the hinder Shares, that they can take hold of no String in the Ground, except of the Ends of such which the fore Share has loosen’d; and they hanging faster in the Ground by their other Ends, the hinder Shares slip by them without taking hold of them; and the Harrow-tines, going after so near to the Chanels of the hinder Sheats, by the same means escape also from hanging in such Strings.

The Reasons for placing the One Share and One Hopper before, and the Two behind, in this Wheat-drill, are so many, and so obvious, that it would be but losing of Time to mention them.

The Limbers G and H, we make of Aspen, Poplar, or Willow, for Lightness; we make them as small and light as we can, allowing them convenient Strength; and the shorter they are, the more exactly the Drill will follow the Horse, without the Hand of him, that follows the Drill, whose chief Business is, with the Paddle to keep all the Shares and Tines from being clogged up by the Dirt sticking to them, and also to observe whether the Seed be delivered equally and justly to all the Chanels.

These Limbers should approach so near together at their fore Parts, near the Chain, that there may be none or very little room betwixt the Limbers and the Horse; and therefore must be nearer together for a very little Horse than for a great one: The Horse, which I have used in all my Drills for these many Years past, is a little one, about Thirteen Hands high; and the fore Part of my Drill-limbers are Twenty Inches wide asunder at the Chain.

At _g_ on the Outside of the Limber G, is a small Staple driven in, having one Link on it, which holds a small Hook, which, taking hold of different Links of the very small Chain I, raises or sinks the fore Part of the Plough to different Heights. But take care to set it at such a Degree, that the fore and hinder Share may go equally deep in the Ground; and when they do so, the fore Part of the Limbers ought to be higher than the Traces which draw them.

At _h_ in the Limber H, is driven another Staple, which holds the other End of the Chain; or else, instead of a Chain, we may make use of a Piece of Cord, one End of which put thro’ this Staple, and ty’d to the Limber, and a Piece of Chain of half a dozen Links, fasten’d to the other End of such a Cord, will serve as well as a whole Chain, for raising and sinking the Limbers.

He who can by these Directions make this Wheat-drill, may very easily make any other Sort of Drill, for planting any Sort of Corn, or other Seeds that are near about the Bigness of Seeds of Corn: He may make it with a single Row of Sheats, by placing as many of these fore Sheats as he pleases in the Plank, which maybe longer or shorter, as he thinks fit; and he may add a Beam betwixt every Two of them, with a Sheat in it, like these hinder Sheats; and then the Drill will be double, having Two Ranks of Shares. But I must advise him never to make a Drill with more Shares than will be contain’d in Four Feet Breadth, that is, from the outermost on the right Hand, to the outermost on the left Hand; for should the Drill be broader, some of the Shares might pass over hollow Places of the Ground without reaching them, and then the Seed falling on the Ground would be uncover’d in such low Places.

To a Drill that plants upon the Level, Marking-wheels are necessary, to the End that every Row may be at its due Distance: As in a Drill with Five Shares, for planting Rows Eight Inches asunder, Four of the Five cannot err, because Four equal Spaces are included betwixt the Five Shares; but the Fifth (which we call the parting Space) being on the Outside unconfin’d, would scarce ever be equal, were it not kept equal by the Help of the Marking-wheels. The Rule for setting of these is thus: We compute altogether the Five Spaces belonging to the Five Rows; which being in all Forty Inches, we set the Marking-wheels Eighty Inches asunder, that is, double the Distance of all the Spaces, each Wheel being equidistant to the Middle of the Drill, which Middle being exactly over the Horse-path, when the Drill is turn’d, the Horse goes back upon the Track of one of these Wheels, making his Path exactly Forty Inches distant from his last Path: By this means also the Rows of the whole Field may be kept equidistant, and parallel to one another; so that it would be difficult for an Eye to distinguish the parting Rows from the rest.