MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
May, 1974 
Vol. 17, No. 5 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
The seeding of the Ford County Management Unit (FCMU) in August and September 
1968 was accomplished with a machine called the Howard Rotaseeder. This unique 
machine is an import from England where its primary function is the renovation of 
pasture land. The machine consisted of a 70-inch rototiller fitted with special 
slot cutting blades (5-inch intervals) and a seed drill that provided a means of 
seeding directly into sod with a minimum of soil disturbance. This left a pro¬ 
tective mulch that seemed to have distinct advantages in holding moisture for 
newly-planted seed. Another advantage of the machine was that the depth of the 
slots (and thus depth of seed placement) could be controlled with good precision. 
Because little soil was disturbed, a small tractor (40-50 horsepower at PTO) could 
be utilized to power the rotaseeder. The machine was modified so that it could 
seed both brome and alfalfa at the same time; a roller to compact the seedbed 
followed the Rotaseeder. Overall, the machine did a credible job of seeding (as 
indicated by the results) and the concept of seeding directly into sod with a 
slot cutting machine was demonstrated. 
The machine did, however, have drawbacks. The 8-foot overall width proved 
too wide for many backslopes and foreslopes along roadsides. The ground-drive 
wheel mechanism that operated the seed box caused considerable trouble and the 
rate of seed application was difficult to control. 
When it came time to obtain additional equipment for seeding operations on 
project W- 85 -D, an attempt was made to locate machinery that would preserve the 
concept of seedbed preparation and seed application found successful with the 
Rotaseeder, but that would overcome its main drawbacks. It was also learned 
that the patent for the Rotaseeder had been sold to a company in France and it 
would be difficult and expensive to import additional machines. 
A trip to the Farm Progress Show at Galesburg in September 1972 revealed 
that the Howard Company had recently begun to manufacture a new machine called 
a "Turf Quaker." The machine is designed for aerification of golf courses by 
cutting slits that allow air to get down to the grass root zone. With modification 
of cutting blades, it will do the same job of tillage as the Rotaseeder and pro¬ 
bably will be more efficient, as the Turf Quaker is only 5 feet wide. Two of 
these machines have been purchased and will be fitted with new cutting blades for 
the seeding operations later this summer. Bril lion seeders that seed and roll 
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 
