Planting 149 



pickers ; in the other the seed potatoes are fed on a plat- 

 form containing a revolving wheel. An assistant to the 

 driver sits behind this and corrects the mistakes of the 

 planter by removing the extra pieces where two or more 

 are fed between pairs of spokes and by filling the spaces 

 which are empty. The first requires only a driver, an 

 advantage where labor is scarce. The picker type does 

 fair work where the seed planted is small and round, 

 and on smooth land. Its efficiency falls off with the use 

 of cut seed and on rough or stony land. The picker may 

 injure the seed and spread disease. Picker planters are 

 most used where land is cheap and labor high, where 

 cheap cull seed is used with mellow soil and in general 

 where it is the object to raise large areas at low expense. 

 The platform type planter is adapted to higher priced 

 land where every missed hill is expensive. It will feed 

 cut seed perfectly with much less trouble to the feeder 

 if care is taken to cut the pieces somewhat blocky in 

 shape. With expensive seed and when spraying, manure 

 and fertilizer add to the acre cost, it does not pay to 

 have any missed hills to cut down the income from each 

 acre. The cost of each acre is the same whether every 

 hill is planted or not and the cost of the wages of the 

 second man on the planter is small compared with the 

 increased income. 



The use of machine planters has called attention to 

 several advantages in their use which may be copied 

 with profit by growers planting by hand. The saving in 

 cost of labor over hand planting may or may not be great 

 when the cost of the machine is considered. The gain 

 from the use of machine planters is largely in other ways. 

 The machine opens the soil with a small plow or disk 

 and the seed is dropped into soil which is cool and damp. 



