Planter and method of preparing soil

Claim 1

A minimum tiltage planter comprising a supporting frame a. a disk coulter rotatably supported from said planter frame and being provided with a fluted peripheral cutting edge with said flutes extending from said periphery radially approximately to the center of said disk, said coulter being rotatably mounted at the forward end of said frame and being spring biased downwardly into the ground for forming a narrow band of the order of 1 1/4 inches of worked soil on each side of a longitudinal axis, b. a furrow closing and soil compacting member carried by said frame and positioned rearwardly of said coulter with the transverse midportion of said compacting member lying on said longitudinal axis for compacting said narrow bands of worked soil, c. a furrow opener comprising a pair of coacting soil contacting disks positioned on said frame between said fluted disk coulter and said soil compacting member for opening a furrow along said longitudinal axis in the soil worked by said coulter, d. a seed dispensing device positioned on said frame between said furrow opener and said soil compacting member and communicating with said furrow opener for depositing seeds in said opened furrow along said longitudinal axis, and e. a fertilizer distributor positioned on said frame between said disk coulter and said said seed dispensing device for depositing fertilizer in one of said bands of worked soil adjacent the outer edge thereof.