SKEITH HARROW ATTACHMENT TO PLOUGHS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1354, 18 June 1885, Page 3

SKEITH HARROW ATTACHMENT TO PLOUGHS.

Mr E. F. Wright, of Windwood, Mount Somers,, has applied for a patent for a skeith-' harrow attachment for ploughs. The " attachment " is calculated to effect a great saving of labor in harrowing, the inveotion being one that will enable ploughing and partial harrowing to b 9 done simultaneously by one and the same implement. The "attachment" is very simple in construction, and can be easily fixed to single, double, or treble furrow ploughs. For a double-furrow plough, it might be briefly described as two projecting elbowed iron beams, screwed on to the beam of the plough immediately opposite the mould boards. By means of small clamps ordinary skeiths are fixed on the projecting beams, the edges of the skeiths being about four inches above the level of the bottom edges of the mould boards, and the inner sides of the skeiths being about 4t'n from the face of the mould boards. As the mould boards bring the mould into a vertical position, the skeiths slice the centres of the edges of the mould which then falls over in the same position as in the case of ordinary ploughing. So far there is no apparent material advantage gained, but with the first stroke of a set of ordinary tined harrows the top portioo of the ridge immediately crumbles away and forms au excellent and well pulverised seed bed. The inventor claims that the attachment will save at least one harrowing, and that for the breaking up of tussock, grass, or any description of land that turus up with a stiff ridgo, the sbeith harrow attachment will effect a very great saving of labor; and with everything in fairly good working order there is very little, if any, increase of draught. Mr R. Patton of Mount Somers was entrusted to make the first set of beam attachments, and so readily did he grasp the inventor's ideas, that Mr Wright found no difficulty in getling the work locally executed. A private trial took place at Mount Somers on Thursday, first on a piece of tussock land opposite Mr Pattou's smithy, and afterwards in a grass paddock, the property of Mr Carlton, who also ient a plough and team of horses for the experiment. Though the plough used was not in working order, the trial was so successful that Mr Wright proceeded to town the following day, and lodged an application for a patent. Public trials will shortly be held in various centres, and there is little doubt that this useful invention will be received with great favor by agriculturists. Its simplicity and cheapness should command for the skeith harrow attachment a ready and extensive sale.—Press.