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Hand corn planters have now almost taken whole possession of some sections of the country, although a few years ago they were unheard of, and we have no doubt that many farmers will find occasions and places on their farms when and where the hand-planter will be the most advantageous. Among the many , hand oorn planters that have been invented Sand patented, none seems to us to fulfil more completely the functions desired than the one , here described. In our engravings we have represented one of these, seen in perspective and as used in Fig. 1, and in section at Fig. 2. A is a seed box having a door or lid, a', at its top, and a planter or movable slide, B, provided with a handle whereby it can be operated, passing through it. Inside the box, A, a brush, C, is fixed, and to the sides of A a shoe of cast iron, D, is hinged, being also connected with the spring, F, which has the tendency to force it back, making at the same time a clicking noise, thus indicating that the seed has been planted. The planter or slide, B, is shod with iron, and has in it a groove which carries the seed from the box downwards. This groove can be made to hold a greater or less number of seeds as desired, by the slide, E, and screw, b, which can be adjusted through the little hole at the back of the planter, a. The operation is very simple. The opera- tor grasps the handle at E, behind which there is a gage to regulate the depth at which the seed is to be buried, and pushing the box into the ground, a certain number of seeds are carried by B past the brush, which sweeps off the excess into the lower space. Another step is taken, the planter again pressed in the ground ; but this time as B is being pushed down, the little projection, e, releases its hold on d, which F pulls away and allows the seed to fall into the ground, the iron shoe of B following them and pressing them the required depth; when B is lifted, the projection, c, catches d, and forcibly causes D to come back and presses the soil upon the seed. G is an extra handle that can be used should the ground be a little hard, to give the operator more power to force in the planter. The advantages of this method of planting seeds are obvious, as the seeds being all buried at an equal depth, and each covered with the same amount of soil at the same pressure— that is, that the ground is made equally tight around each seed—the probabilities are that the crop will be more uniform than when there is an irregularity in the planting. Further information can be obtained by addressing Boeklen &Bossert, No. 57 Essex street, Jersey City, N. J. A patent was secured by K. Boeklen, Feb. 10, 1857.
