Minimum tillage planter

Claim 1

APPARATUS OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED FOR PREPARING NARROW SEED BED STRIPS OF DETERMINED WIDTH SPACED APART BY UNDISTURBED STRIPS OF THE ROUGHLY PLOWED GROUND, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF TILLAGE UNITS SECURED TO A FRAME, EACH SAID UNIT INCLUDING A CARRIAGE, A PLURALITY OF COOPERATING TILLAGE WHEELS APPROXIMATELY 26 INCHES IN DIAMETER MOUNTED ON EACH SAID CARRIAGE INCLUDING A PAIR OF COAXIAL TILLAGE WHEELS MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ON SAID CARRIAGE IN DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF SAID CARRIAGE AND BEING SPACED APART APPROXIMATELY 8 INCHES, A THIRD TILLAGE WHEEL SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL TO SAID COAXIAL TILLAGE WHEELS MOUNTED ON SAID CARRIAGE SPACED MIDWAY BETWEEN SAID COAXIAL WHEELS FOR ROTATION ON AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID COAXIAL TILLAGAE WHEELS, SAID AXES BEING SPACED HORIZONTALLY APART A DISTANCE SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE RADIUS OF SAID WHEELS SO THAT SAID THIRD WHEEL OVERLAPS AND COOPERATES WITH SAID COAXIAL TILLAGE WHEELS, EACH SAID TILLAGE WHEEL INCLUDING ABOUT 20 OUTWARDLY EXTENDING RELATIVELY THIN FINGERS HAVING THE OUTERMOST END PORTIONS CURVED IN THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF SAUD UNITS AND HAVING A TRANSVERSELY FLARED FLAT SURFACE ON THE CONCAVE SIDE OF SAID END PORTIONS, SAID FRAME REGULATING THE PENETRATION OF SAID FINGERS INTO THE EARTH TO ABOUT 6-7 INCHES, SAID FINGERS AND SADI FLAT SURFACES COOPERATING TO BREAK LARGE EARTH CLODS INTO SMALLER EARTH CLODS AND FINE EARTH PARTICLES AND FOR SEGREGATING THE FINE EARTH PARTICLES INTO A CLEARLY DEFINED GERMINATION LAYER OF PREDETERMINED WIDTH AND THICKNESS BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND IN THE SPACE WHEREIN THE SEED CORN IS TO BE PLANTED WITH SUCH GERMINATION LAYER BEING COVERED BY A COVERING LAYER OF THE SMALLER EARTH CLODS FOR MAXIMUM GERMINATION AND MOISTURIZATION OF THE GERMANIUM LAYER, AND MEANS FOR PULLING SAID CARRIAGE OVER ROUGHLY PLOWED GROUND.