SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



87 



Deere Potato Planter. 



We offer the general trade this year, for the first time, the Deere Potato Planter, 

 a machine of which quite a number were made last year, and thoroughly tested in the 

 various potato raising sections of the country, the object being, not only to give the 

 machine a thorough test, but to ascertain just what was desired in a potato planter. 

 The planting device consists of a series of peculiarly shaped arms, half right and 

 half left, to each of which are attached spearing devices or forks for picking 

 up the potatoes, and in the end of which are fastened stripping or clearing devices for 

 insuring the depositing of the seed. These arms are fastened to a center plate on the 

 axle, and, when the machine is in operation, revolve in slots in front of the bottom 

 seed box and pass into the seed box at the rear, where are located spring shoes, the 

 office of which shoes is to gather ttie seed into the proper position for the forks to take 

 it. These shoes are hung on springs, are circular in shape, and of a less radius than 

 the bottom of the lower seed hopper ; the upper ends of them thus stand inside of 

 the seed hopper, and these picker arms, after taking a piece of potato, pass 

 up through the slots in these spring shoes, which, being yielding, force 

 the potato onto the fork firmly, and at the same time give it opportunity to pass up- 

 wards in its revolution. 



Next comes the office of the stripping device, which in its present position does 

 not interfere with the retaining of seed on the forks, but as it passes through in front 

 the upper end of the stripping device strikes an inclined stop, and by this operation 

 forces the seed out of the forks directly over the open or rear end of the furrow 

 opener and into the furrow. 



Another feature of the machine, to which we want to call special attention, is, 

 that raising the runner out of the ground, throws the entire mechanism of the ma- 

 chine out of gear, and stops both the planting device and the device for feeding the 

 seed down into the planting mechanism. 



The entire planter, except the box, the pole of the marker and the tongue, is of 

 steel or iron, thus rendering it as durable as machinery can be made, and with care a 

 machine of this kind should last a lifetime. 



PRICE LIST. 



Deere Potato Planter, weight 500 Ibs $75 Oa 



