s 
BULLETIN" 668, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
(fig. 3), is faced with galvanized iron so shaped as to form two par- 
allel tubes 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. Eapid 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 lightly on the 
hill just planted, thus compacting 
the soil about the seeds, meanwhile 
dropping more seeds into the tubes. 
to make readv for further olantinof. 
Fig. 3. — Hand corn planter, designed by 
the Office of Corn Investigations, suc- 
cessfully used at San Antonio in 1917 
in planting delinted 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 IN 
DRILLS. 
Nurse planting in drills is prac- 
ticable only with delinted cotton 
seeds, for reasons already given, 
simple operation, since the ordinary corn 
With these it becomes a 
planter can be used. 
Mixtures of Lone Star (Upland) and Pima (Egyptian) 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 
