Early 20th Century Herschel No. 11 H Wheelbarrow Grass Seeder

 This wheelbarrow grass seeder was made by the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company in East Peoria, Illinois. It was made to drop a wide variety of grass seeds, including timothy, millet, alfalfa, and crimson clover. In order to use it, a farmer first needed to decide how much seed to sow per acre. By moving a pin into the different holes on the arm between the wheel and the seed box, that farmer could sow anywhere from 1 quart (if the pin were in hole #2) per acre to 24 quarts (if the pin were in #12) per acre. By moving the pin, the farmer was moving the pivot point of the arm as it moved between the wheel and the box. As the farmer pushed the wheelbarrow forward, the uniquely shaped wheel moved the arm which in turn moved a chain running the length of the seed box, or hopper. The movement of that chain caused the seeds to shift inside the box and some of those seeds to fall through holes in the box's bottom onto the ground.

 First organized in Peoria, Illinois, in 1887, and incorporated in 1893, the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company grew rapidly as a producer of various sections and knives for reapers, binders, and mowers. When fire destroyed its first plant in 1898, the company quickly occupied a building in Peoria recently evacuated by the Nicol-Burr Foundry & Machine Company in order to continue production. Within a few years, by around 1901, the company was able to build its own factory in East Peoria. By 1911, that factory was making a wide assortment of products, including revolving hay rakes, lawn mowers, pitman boxes, singletrees and doubletrees, reel arms and reel fans, and garden tools, among other parts and tools.
 Thanks to relatively easy access to water and coal, and thanks to its location near several railroad lines, the company thrived during the early years of the 20th century, obtaining an international market along with a national market. According to a 1911 issue of Farm Implement News, the company shipped its goods to "South America, Germany, France, England, Switzerland, Russia, Sweden, Siberia, Australia and other grain producing countries." By 1911, the company's American presence included branch houses and jobbers in Minneapolis; Omaha; Kansas City; Elmira, New York; Philadelphia; Saginaw, Michigan; and Dallas.

From The Implement Age, vol. XXXVIII,
no. 14 (October 7, 1911), p. 24.

Notes

Information on the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company in 1906 is from Farm Implement News, vol. XXVII, no. 3 (January 18, 1906), pp. 33-34a.
Information on the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company's products and international market in 1911 is from The Implement Age, vol. XXXVIII, no. 14 (October 7, 1911), p. 24.
Information on the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company's branch houses and jobbers in 1911 is from the Farm Implement News Buyers Guide, vol. XXI (Chicago: Farm Implement News Company, 1911).