Side Dresser

     Agriculture is all about growing the most amount of food or product in a space as possible. Modern practices and varieties allow farmers to do this quite effectively. But soil can only naturally hold a certain amount of nutrients. Any extra nutrients have to be added. This is where the Side Dresser comes in.

  

     We call this a "Side Dresser." In other places the term is used for a different but similar implement, but this website isn't about those places.

     It's another bar implement, as you can see. As for unique features, the side dresser has a few. First off, is the tank, that's filled with fertilizer. The wheel behind measures your speed so that the implement spreads the same amount of fertilizer no matter what speed you go at. Most importantly, though, are these.

     These knives cut the way for a tube on their following edge. (The shovels on the right are to keep the corrugates clear.)

  

     That's looking at the knife from the bottom, if you couldn't tell. These knives inject fertilizer along the sides of the plants (in this case, corn) so that the roots nearby can directly access it. High concentrations of fertilizer can be a bit caustic. By injecting directly in the ground, rather then spraying, you avoid causing harm to the leaves.
     Crops like corn thrive on a lot of fertilizer, especially when grown at a high density. By coaxing plant densities beyond what nature could sustain, farmers are able to support many more people than they would otherwise. More and more all the time there are less farmers and more eaters. So more food is a very important issue.