Figure 141.—Iron Land Roller Made of Boiler Plate.
Figure 142.—Wooden Land Roller.
CORN-PLANTER
Corn-planters are designed to plant two rows at once. The width of rows may be adjusted from about 32 to 44 inches apart. When seed-corn is carefully graded to size the dropping mechanism will feed out the grains of corn regularly with very few skips. This is one reason why most farmers plant corn in drills. There are other cultural reasons which do not properly belong to this mechanical article. Hill dropping is considerably more complicated and difficult. After the feeding mechanism has been adjusted to the size of seed kernels to be planted so it will drop four kernels in a hill then the trip chain is tried out to see if it is right at every joint. Dropping in hills is a very careful mechanical proposition. An inch or two out of line either way means a loss of corn in cultivating.
In setting the stakes to go and come by, a careful measurement of the field is necessary in order to get the stake lines on both sides of the field parallel. If the ring stakes are driven accurately on the line, then the first hill of corn must come at the same distance from the line in each row. Likewise in starting back from the far side of the field the first hill should measure exactly the same distance from the stake line as the first hills on the opposite side of the field. This is easily managed by counting the number of trips between the stake line and the first row of corn hills. If the two lines of stakes on the opposite sides of the field are exactly parallel it is not necessary to move either line in order to get the proper distance to start dropping, but it must be adjusted by measurement, otherwise the corn hills will be dodged. If the corn hills are to space three feet apart then the first row of hills should come nine or twelve feet from the stake line. Stakes may be measured and set a certain number of inches from the line to make the distance come right. This careful adjustment brings the hills in line in the rows.
When the field is level or gently sloping there is no difficulty in making straight rows so far as check rowing is concerned. When the field is hilly another problem crops up. It is almost impossible to run corn rows along the side of a hill and keep them straight. The planter has a tendency to slide downhill. Also the distance across a field is greater where the rows pass over a hill. To keep the rows straight under such conditions allowance must be made for the stretch over the hill as well as for the side thrust of the planter. Where a chain marker is used it hangs downhill and a further allowance must be made for that. A good driver will skip an inch or so above the mark so that the rows will be planted fairly straight. This means a good deal more in check rowing than when the corn is planted in drills. The greatest objection to hill planting is the crowding of four corn plants into a space that should be occupied by one plant.
A great many experiments have been tried to scatter the seeds in the hill, so far without definite results, except when considerable additional expense is incurred. However, a cone suspended below the end of the dropping tube usually will scatter the seeds so that no two seeds will touch each other. They may not drop and scatter four or five inches apart, but these little cones will help a good deal. They must be accurately adjusted so the point of the cone will center in the middle of the vertical delivery tube, and there must be plenty of room all around the cone so the corn seed kernels won’t stick. The braces that hold the cones in place for the same reason must be turned edge up and supported in such a way as to leave plenty of clearance. The idea is that four kernels of corn drop together. They strike the cone and are scattered in different directions. They naturally fly to the outsides of the drill mark which scatters them as wide apart as the width of the shoe that opens the drill. The advantage of scattering seed grains in the hill has been shown by accurate experiments conducted at different times by agricultural colleges.