Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/275

247&#93; T UR be sown before the latter end of July, or early in August. The quantity of seed depends upon the method of culture j for, if it be broad-casi, 2 lbs. per acre will be necessary : but a more ad- vantageous mode is that of Drill- ing, in rows three feet asunder, which requires only one pound of seed. Although we have given an account, vol ii. pp. 166-82, of the most valuable Drill-machines, yet as two implements of this descrip- tion have lately been contrived, for the express purpose of drilling turnips, we have been induced, from their remarkable simplicity, and pra6tical utility, to furnish our readers with a complete account and delineation of such improve- ments. In the year 1801, the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. granted a premium of 10 guineas and a silver medal, to the Rev. T. C. MuNNiNGS, for his in- vention of a Turnip-drill, of which he communicated a model, accom- panied with a narrative of experi- ments, to determine " the com- parative advantage of the drill or broad-cast method, in the cultiva- tion of turnips." — It consists of a tin box, resembling the shape of a barrel, which is fixed to the axis of a wheel about 22 inches in dia- meter, and vertical with such boxj dropping the seed, during its re- volutions, through certain small apertures, which are in the middle of the barrel, about 14 inches asunder. Description of the Turnip-Drill, invented by the Rev. T, C. Man- nings. [plate 1. Supplement.] ttg. 1.— A, the wheel with an kon rim. TUR [247 B, the tin barrel, or seed-box, which is fixed to the axis of such wheel. C, the opening, through which the seed is introduced into the box ; and which is afterwards closed by a cover. D, a semi-circular plate of tin, the design of which is to exclude all impurities from the seed-box. E, E, the two handles of the ma* chine. Fig. 3. — F, represents the seed- box on a larger scale. G, the holes in the tin box, through which the seed falls upon the land. H, part of the axis of the whefcl, to which the seed-box is fixed. Mr. Munnings considers his- drill for turnips, as much superior to any other, from the single cir- cumstance of its depositing the seed so instantly after the plough, as entirely to preserve the good cfFe6t$ of the first evaporation : and he conceives, that 'such evaporation contributes to the uniform vege- tation of minute seeds. Thus, in the six acres of his drilled plants, there was not a deficiency of six square yards; though, on three acres of broad-cast, before rain fell, not one half, perhaps not one- third, of the seeds vegetated. He is fully persuaded, that the drill- method, in the cultivation of tur- nips, will, in all seasons, be supe- rior to the broad-cast; but, that the very great and striking differ- ence between the two methods, will most effedually be perceived in a season of uncommon drought. The second drill. machine is, that contrived by Thomas An-» DREW Knight, Esq. of Elton, near Ludlow ; on whom the Pa- triotic Society above mentioned, in 1801, conferred tlieir silver medal. R 4 Descrip'>