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.