Soil mulching device

Claim 1

A planting device comprising a main frame; furrow opening means carried by said main frame; dispensing means, carried by said main frame, adopted to deposit material along the furrow; a press wheel having a ground engaging surface, carried by said main frame, that rides on the upper surface of the seed bed; soil penetrating tool means, carried by said main frame, said soil penetrating tool means located relative to said press wheel such that it penetrates the soil surface to a depth below said upper surface of the seed bed, said soil penetrating tool means comprising a pair of vertically thin flat blades having their plane parallel to the direction of travel such that they slice through the soil without substantially disturbing it, each of said blades having points of attachment thereon near the lower extremity thereof; and articulated link means secured at each end to said blades at said points of attachment and having a length greater than the distance between said points of attachment and disposed to trail behind said tool means and said press wheel under the surface of the soil in catenary form, said articulated link means having a rolling and tumbling action adapted to agitate the soil and mix said material therewith.