Various methods are used to drop the kernels of corn into the soil, but the specially designed corn planters are used most for this purpose. Such planters are: the hand, the one-row, the two-row drill, and the two- and four-row check-row.

A much improved walking potato digger is shown in Fig. 491. The shovel is a large rounded scoop which slides under the potatoes scooping the soil and the potatoes up onto the shaker grate at the rear. The grate is hinged at the front. A five-pointed wheel under the grate gives it an up-and-down motion which sifts the soil from the potatoes as they pass over the rods. A forecarriage to control the depth of the shovel is fastened to the front of the beam in front of the shovel.

The importance of cleaning grain before marketing and the cleaning and grading of seed before planting is being recognized by grain growers more and more every year. The selection of good seed is a very essential step in the production of any crop. Certified seed breeders practice cleaning and grading of the seed they plant and sell.

The most satisfactory method of sowing any of the small grains is with the grain drill. The largest yields are obtained from fields where the seed have been deposited evenly and in the right amount in a firm, compact soil and covered at a uniform depth. It is practically impossible to secure these conditions when the seed are sown with a broadcast seeder.