Hand Corn Planter, 1863

Summary

Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.

Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.

Artifact

Corn planter

Date Made

1863

Creators

Batcheller, H. F. 

Place of Creation

United States, Illinois, Sterling 

Creator Notes

Patented design by H. F. Batcheller, Sterling, Illinois

Greenfield Village
 On Exhibit

at Greenfield Village in Soybean Lab Agricultural Gallery

Object ID

26.34.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Wood (Plant material)
Iron (Metal)

Dimensions

Height: 30 in

Width: 10 in

Depth: 4 in

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