Mechanised Seed Sower
Grantown Museum

Portable, hand-operated machines like this one were developed the mid-1800s to help farmers sow their crops. The device was carried under one arm and secured across the body with a shoulder strap. The canvas bag was filled with seed and the farmer walked across the field pulling the handle or ‘bow’ at the front of the machine. This made an exact amount of seed drop on to the revolving finned disc and scatter it in a wide arc.

It was nicknamed the ‘seed fiddle’ because of the back-and-forth action that was needed to operate the machine. It made sowing crops much more efficient, especially for tiny seeds like grass and clover that were difficult to sow easily by hand.

The ‘Aero’ brand was manufactured in Kilmarnock and sold to farmers all over the country until the mid-1900s.