BULLETIN 668, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



( fig. 3), is faced with galvanized iron so shaped as to form two par- 

 allel lubes running the entire length of the board. At the top end 

 the tubes are funnel shaped. At the bottom end they empty into a 

 kind of hopper. To this hopper a spring and a lever are attached, 



by means of which the mouth of the 

 hopper can be opened or closed 

 as desired. At the top of the back 

 of the baseboard a handle is at- 

 tached. At the bottom there is a 

 flange by which the depth of plant- 

 ing can be regulated. 



One man can operate the planter 

 very easily. Rapid progress can be 

 made if the seeds to be planted are 

 carried in a pouch attached to each 

 hip, cotton seed in one and beans 

 or peas in the other. One kind of 

 seed can be dropped into one of 

 the tubes and the other kind into 

 the other tube. Then, by thrust- 

 ing the nose of the planter into the 

 ground at a marked point and giv- 

 ing the planter a forward lifting 

 movement, the seeds may be depos- 

 ited at a uniform depth in the moist 

 soil. The spring on the hopper 

 closes the latter automatically as the 

 planter is lifted again. As the op- 

 erator steps forward to plant the 

 next hill he can step lightty on the 

 hill just planted, thus compacting 

 the soil about the seeds, meanwhile 

 dropping more seeds into the tubes, 

 to make ready for further planting. 



Fig. 3. — Hand corn planter, designed by 

 the Office of Corn Investigations, suc- 

 cessfully used at San Antonio in 1917 

 in planting delintcd cotton alone and 

 in combination with peas and beans. 

 The use of a planter of this type ap- 

 pears to have a number of advan- 

 tages over the usual method of 

 hand-dropping progeny rows. (Pho- 

 tographed July 2, 1917.) 



METHOD 



OF PLANTING 

 DRILLS. 



IN 



Nurse planting in drills is prac- 

 ticable only with delinted cotton 

 seeds, for reasons already given. 

 With these it becomes a simple operation, since the ordinary corn 

 planter can be used. 



Mixtures of Lone Star (Upland) and Pima (Egj^ptian) cotton, 

 cotton and cowpeas, and cotton and beans were planted successfully 

 with a corn planter at San Antonio in 1917 (figs. 1 and 4). In the 



