Experimental Machines for Autodibble Planting

PHYSICALLY weak seedlings such as carrot, lettuce, onion, and beet may fail to emerge because of premature soil drying, accumulation of salts in the shallow seedbeds, or from not being able to break through even weak soil crusts. To insure adequate stands of these crops, excess seed is often planted which later requires time-consuming and expensive thinning. Precision planting methods that eliminate hand labor and thinning are needed. Any such method must insure a consistently high emergence of seedlings under the variety of microclimate and soil conditions which are encountered from year to year during the planting period.