From psmith@ccs.carleton.ca Thu Mar  3 12:57:57 1994
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 94 15:47:17 EST
From: Peter Smith <psmith@ccs.carleton.ca>
To: Larry London <london@SunSITE.Unc.EDU>
Subject: Re: Human-powered Seeders

Larry

You asked for a synopsis of my newsgroup findings re:  garden seeders
(human-powered).  Unfortunately, I only got a couple of responses, and
one of them -- though appreciated, nonetheless -- was quite vague and
spoke of experiences 2nd hand.

Of the useful info, one user said that under good soil conditions, the
Earthway Precision garden seeder was fine; under wet conditions it was
very inadequate.  A sturdier machine would likely have been better.

In discussing with some growers in my locale, Eastern Canada, it
appears that Earthway's Precision Seeder is about the only one used by
those opting for human-powered techniques.

One drawback that I foresee is the inflexible spacing of seed.  I like
to plant at intervals close to the ultimate placement of mature
plants.  The seeder plates tend to plant up to 4 times as densely as I
would like depending on the particular plant type.  If I get one of
these devices, I am going to try to fashion some sort of plug for seed
holes in the plates, thereby reducing plant density.

I wish I had more concrete info to pass along, but that is it for now.

bye and thanks again for your interest

P.S. I did take a look at your ftp site, but didn't manage to find a
file with discussion of human-powered seeders.  If you have since run
into the specific file, please let me know.  But don't go out of your
way, as it isn't critical.

thanks