The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-03-21
A WICHITA INVENTION
OF Benefit to Gardening Inter
eSts of Entire Country.
TYGETSANEW INDUSTRY
Wichitans Form a Company
to Manufacture Seeded String

new invention, which viii be of great
benefit to the agricultural interests of the
entire country. and which viii no doubt
mean much to Wichita as well as to the
inventor and his associates, has been
made by Mr. E. Frank Israel Of this
city. This is a machine which prepares
seed in such way as TO greatly facii-
tate and reduce the cost of planting all
kinds of garden truck and particularly
small seed plants. That it is a success
has been demonstrated beyond a doubt
in the gardens in the city and is further
substantiated by many letters from some
of the largest gardeners and seed com
panies Of the country. Il means new
industry for Wichita, which promises 10
become of national importance.
The product of this machine which IS
simplicity itself is a little string of It's
sue paper, in which at regular intervals
are seeds, thus making it possible to plant
the smallest and most delicate seeds with
rapidity with as great if not greater
regularity than could be done by put
When the planter wishes TO put in his
seeds, all he has to do is to lay a string
of the seed in a furrow and cover it with
a hoe, or where there is much of it to be
done take small inexpensive reel drill
that makes a furrow the depth desired.
lays a string of the seed therein and
covers it up.
1t is a well known fact that gardeners
and planters have great difficulty in
planting their seed. This is shown by
the recommendation of one of the lead
ing agricultural papers of the country,
wherein it says that from three to five
pounds of seed should be put in the
ground where it is not necessary to use
more than one or one and a half pounds
in order that the entire ground may be
planted; then after the plants are up
those caused by the surplus seed must be
weeded out. Thus, not only is there the
cost of the wasted seed, but the cost of
the labor of wedding out the surplus
plants incurred. This is where the great
value of the Wichitans invention lies
That Wichita is to be one of the bene-
factors of this new invention was learned
yesterday when reporter for the Eagle
called at the Walterschied Bros foundry,
where eight of the machines have been
temporarily set up. It was while looking
at the machines operated by the 10-year-
old son of the inventor, that the feast
bilty and practicability of the invention
was shown. The machine itself is the re-
suit of years of study on the part Of
Frank israel, and there is no question
but that it is successful. It is no larger
than an ordinary sewing machine, and at
one end is a large roll of ribbon paper
This is wound off and the seeds deposited
thereon by a simple device at the desired
intervals; then the ribon paper is wound
on a reel, and in so doing is twisted, thus
making a seeded paper string. a fifty
foot string, or enough to plant a bed Of
ordinary seed ten feet square, was run
off in fifteen seconds, the machine being |
so well adjusted and so simple that the
boy handled this with ease, and as well
as the other machine In operation.
This invention is covered by patents in |
both the United tsates and Canada,
which were secured by Mr. Hagan of |
Wichita The United States patent was IS |
sued April 10, 1900 and ike the other COW |
ers every part of the machine.
In connection with the machine for
making the SEEDED Slrlng, simple reel |
or drill has been devised. This consists |
% ST eli wheel to which IL attach 4 a
handle, d small reel ard a piece of iron /
through which the seeded string passes
as ii makes a furrow the desied depth /
With this the little daughter of the inven-
tor planted last spring at the latters
place in this city eight rows eighty feet
long of radishes In twelve and a half
minutes. When in few weeks the plants
came up in such regularity just as they
had been planted. there was no doubt in
the minds of all those who saw this gar
den but that the seeded string was a sue
cess.
Mr.. Frank Israel saw the need Of such