82 MISC. PUBLICATION 43 4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



several operations, namely, opening the band or furrow, distributing 

 the seed, covering, firming, and, in some cases, ridging the rows. 

 This hand method is fairly satisfactory in small nurseries but it is 

 obvious that in larger nurseries any mechanical method that will do 

 all these operations at once will reduce sowing costs materially. 



A number of seeding devices have been used with considerable 

 success in sowing hardwoods in the plains nurseries. For seed that 

 can be sown mechanically, the best device consists of a series of seed 

 drills mounted on a frame and pulled by a tractor (fig. 24). 



Many species of seed, however, such as those with wings, those 

 of small size, or seed which has not been separated from the stratifica- 





Figure 24. — Rear view of 4-row mechanical seeder. 



tion medium, cannot be sown mechanically. The nurserymen of the 

 Prairie States Forestry Project developed, however, a semimechanical 

 method which would handle any size or shape of seed and, at the 

 same time, operate much faster than hand sowing. The most satis- 

 factory of these is a tractor or horse-drawn sled on which 2 to 4 men 

 ride and distribute the seed in an even flow into a funnel or trough 

 which is attached to the seeder (fig. 25). Boxes or bags of seed are 

 placed within easy reach of the men doing the seeding so that there is 

 an uninterrupted flow of seed. The seed drops into a shallow furrow 

 opened by a metal runner or shoe and thereupon the furrow is closed 

 by sweeps and firmed by wheels directly behind the seeding trough. 

 In case the seed rows are to be ridged, a pair of disks are so placed as 

 to straddle each seed row. This type of machine allows the men who 

 are doing the seeding to see the distribution of the seed and affords 

 them ample opportunity to obtain an even spread at all times. 



Several other seeders work on the same principle but with certain 

 modifications, such as a large funnel or hopper into which the seed 

 is dropped, and equipment of hand levers that regulate the sowing 

 depth between limits of ){ to 2 inches. The entire device is swung 



