Seed counting machines count
seeds
A seed is an Plant embryogenesis, embryonic plant enclosed in a testa (botany), protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, includ ...
for research and
packaging purposes. The machines typically provide total counts of seeds or batch sizes for packaging.
Background
The first seed counters were developed to count
legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...
s and other seeds which were large.
Traditionally, the seed
packaging industry {{set category, first=industries
Industry may refer to:
Economics
* Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity
* Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machin ...
packed seeds by weight but sold them by number. In order to assure the correct quantity of seeds, the distributors added a safety margin to the packed weight, like a
bakers' dozen
A dozen (commonly abbreviated doz or dz) is a grouping of twelve.
The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the Moon, or months, in a cycle of the Sun, or year ...
. This safety margin increased cost. By counting the seeds, the margin of error could be reduced and so costs reduced.
History
Originally people counted seeds by hand, or used a trip board. The first seed-counting machine was the
vibratory mechanical seed counter. Modern day electronic seed counters are faster and more accurate. A color-image-based seed sorter was developed which can sort various things by their color.
In 1929 the
US Bureau of Plant Industry worked with several seed companies to perfect a seed counter.
In 1962 an electric seed counter was developed by the USDA's
Agricultural Marketing Service
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture; it maintains programs in five commodity areas: cotton and tobacco; dairy; fruit and vegetable; livestock and seed; and poultry. These programs ...
. The electronic counter operation involved the a vibrating the seeds so that they move to the edge of the