Cotton Planter
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1900
name: label: maker
content: Nelson, Jim
notes: label: Description
content: Jim Nelson of Greenwood, SC, made this cotton planter before the turn of the twentieth century. Like many farmers, Nelson tinkered with available material. There were numerous patents for cotton planters, and factory-made planters were available.
label: Description
content: Nelson's planter is all-wood except for the furrow opener and the furrow closer and a rim that goes around the wheel at the center of the drum. The drum is made of soft wood and measures 20 inches in diameter and 13 inches by width. In operation, the drum was filled with cotton seeds that fell through 13 openings as the drum revolved. The two metal pieces used as a furrow opener are 13 ½ inches high by 3 ½ inches wide, and the furrow coverers measure 8 ½ inches high by 1 ½ inch wide. Both are bolted to the wooden frame and controlled by a cord on the handles.
label: Description
content: Ruben F. Vaughn bought the planter in 1902 and used it until he donated it to the National Museum of American History in 1937.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view (fragments)
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: South Carolina, Greenwood
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
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content: Work
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content: Agriculture
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content: Artifact Walls exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: Artifact Wall
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Ruben F. Vaughn
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.37A1
label: catalog number
content: 37A1
label: accession number
content: 145557
objectType: label: Object Name
content: planter, cotton
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: hand-made (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 33 1/4 in x 58 in x 18 in; 84.455 cm x 147.32 cm x 45.72 cm