Big Collection Of Hand Held Planters

Big Collection Of Hand Held Planters AG WORLD Ag World 20-5-21 Did you know that more than 400 patents were granted for various styles of hand corn planters in their heyday? Ted Sommer can tell you that and a lot more about these planters. The Pekin, Ill., seedsman may have the largest collection of hand corn planters anywhere. "I started collecting them 10 or 12 years ago," Sommer says. "I used one when I was a boy and my dad and brother used them to plant the family business's check plots in the early 1900's. They were ideal for that because rows were short." Sommer's collection includes 106 hand planters from seven or eight states. Most hand planters have a strip of wood or metal that holds several kernels of corn. When handles on the planter were moved, seed would be released to drop into the hole the planter had jabbed in the soil. "It's really interesting to see how ideas on how to get a corn kernel into the ground varied between regions," he says. "There are so many different kinds, you wouldn't recognize any of the brand names. Sears made one commercially, but every little town had somebody who made their own. So the actual number of hand corn planters made far exceeded the 400 patents that were granted between 1852 and 1940." For example, some hand corn planters had two hoppers, one for seed and one for fertilizer, Sommer notes. One in his collection even has three handles. Most are made of wood or a combination of wood and metal. One of his planters, dating back to 1882, is made of forged steel. Sommer's oldest corn planter is an H.F. Batcheller made in Sterling, Ill., and patented in 1858. It's one handled and holds about a quart of corn. The handle operates a wooden wheel at the bottom of the hopper that picks up kernels from the supply tank and drops them in the boot of the planter. His most unusual and rarest planter dates back to 1870. The wooden two-row planter has two handles with a slide control between them for varying row spacing from 36 to 40 in. "There aren't very many of them around," he notes. Sommer finds his planters at antique stores, farm auctions, and from other col-lectors. Prices range from $20 to over $200, he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ted Sommer, 18130 Illinois Rt. 9, Pekin, Ill. 61554 (ph 309 346-0517).

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