The rolls are hollow, to save freight, and to be ballasted to suit the land. The tongue is hinged, and the horses pull directly by the mll frames.
The Deere Corn blunter, manufactured by the Deere & Mansur Co., Fig. 5, can be made to sow the corn in drills formed by the runners seen in cnt, or to drop with con siderable accuracy a determinate number of kernels in two hills transversely opposite. by means of a rotary feed beneath the hopper carrying the seed, controlled either by the hand lever, or a check-rower, the latter operated by a light wire cable armed with spars at dis tances equal to the distances which it is decided should separate hill from hill. The cable is anchored at either side of the cornfield in order to hold it stationary as the machine ad vances along its length, so that each collision of the check-rower device with one of the spurs of the cable moves the two droppers simultaneously by a connecting shaft and pinions. The feed is low and the seed dropped instantly, leaving the hills of corn in accurate line both ways. The transverse rows of hills are kept straight by shifting the anchor at the side of the field always in a straight line. The wire can be thrown out of the check-rower on arriv ing at the end of the row, so as not. to interfere with turning the machine. In Fig. 6 the wire is seem wound on a reel, convenient for placing in position for work. Thu face of the wheels is a broad concave, tending to cover and press the dirt upon the seed in the drill left by the press runners. The rear of the shank of the runners is of glass, that the process of dropping may be observed by the driver. A slide drop was first used in this class of planter.
but the rotary drop is found preferable. The check-rower mechanism operates as follows : Spurs or buttons on the wire engage a lever and carry its end to a point where the in clination of the lever sheds the spur, which passes readily in and out of the check-rower on grooved rollers. The movement of the lever draws a small crank over forward far enough to operate the rotary feed to which the shaft of the crank is suitably attached. The heel of the lever is attached to a connecting-rod by a swivel-nut, the position of which on the rod controls the amount of throw imparted to the crank. When the spur on the cable releases the lever. a spring returns the lever to the position of rest ready for the impulse of the next spur of the cable.
In another form of the check-rower device the spurs of the wire engage a vertical lever and draw it down backward, escaping to the rear as soon as it assumes a position nearly horizontal, when its return spring causes it to fly back upright, ready for the next impulse, without permitting the wire to escape from its fork.
An upright check-rower anchor by the Barlow Co., Quincy, Ill., is shown in Fig. 7, which unlocks the wire automatically as the corn-planter approaches it, paying out sufficient sur plus wire to admit of planting to the extreme end of the row. This surplus is recovered by
the operator, who pulls the wire taut again when resetting the anchor behind the corn-planter before starling on his return trip across the field.
Procter's three-row corn planter checks the corn rows both ways in straight lines by mech anism contained within itself, without the use of a spurred wire, at the same time stamping an impression in the dirt at intervals of two hills as a visible evidence to the driver that he is planting his cross-rows straight. To prevent momentary variations iu the speed of either of the two animals which draw it, the hitch may play from side to side, while the preserva tion of the direction of travel in a general straight line maintains the travel of the machine so as to insure virtually straight rows. Across the machine, hinged to the axle-stock, is a rock-shaft actuating the three seed-slides of the seed-boxes, and provided with a strik ing plate on the ends next to the tappet-wheels, which are secured to the carrier-wheel spokes, and upon which the checking tappets strike in succession, delivering the corn through the tubes to the hill. The stampers on the two tappet-wheels arc arranged to impress the ground simultaneously with the drop of the . seed, a visible mark close beside eachhill. The stamper and the drop-tube may be swung forward or back in unison, to correct any slight irregularity without stopping. This machine covers the hill with drag-hoes in pairs. The Weir cotton or corn drill requires change of seed-box for cotton seed or corn. The shovel for opening the furrow and the two covering shovels arc arranged to trip and draw over obstructions to avoid breakage, and may be given any desired resistance, accord ing to the nature of the ground. The shanks of the covering-shovels are round, so that the shovels may be set at any angle to throw the dirt over the drill, more or less. The seed is taken from the box by a picker-wheel revolved through the medium of chain gear driven by two cranks upon the ends of a shaft traversing the box and carrying an agitator-wheel within it to prevent clogging. The cranks are driven by two connecting-rods extending to cranks on the drive-wheel axle. By setting the cranks at a relative angle of with the rods par allel, the power is properly transmitted to the picker-wheel. The feed is thrown out of gear by the long rod under the frame, attached in front to a clutch on the main shaft. In the Moline beet seeder, the runner drills are followed by spring press-wheels. The rider's weight is partly sustained by a rear caster, which also carries a hinged marker.
Separator : see Cotton-spinning Machines, Ore-dressing Machinery, and Threshing Ma chines.