AU2007202931C1 - A Cane Billet Planter - Google Patents

Description

1 A Cane Billet Planter Field of the Invention. 5 This invention is directed to an apparatus that plants cane billets and therefore the apparatus will typically be known as a "cane billet planter". The invention is particularly directed to a specially designed apparatus and the invention is also directed to a method of planting sugarcane billets. 10 Background Art. Sugarcane plants are grown from billets. Billets are short lengths of the stalk of the sugarcane plant which contain an "eye". New roots and shoots grow from the "eye" of the billets. 15 Conventionally, the billets are planted using a cane billet planter. For small paddocks, a smaller planter is towed behind a tractor. Larger, self-propelled planters are also known. Most cane billet planters plant a single row at a time, although it is also known to provide a multiple row cane billet planter. 20 The general method is that rows are formed in the paddock and the billets are planted in the rows. Sometimes, the rows comprise raised mounds that extend across the paddock. A furrow is formed in the top of the row mound, and cane billets are dropped into the furrow and the furrow is then covered over. 25 It is known to form the furrows using a separate machine prior to planting. That is, the cane billet planter does not to form the furrow and a furrow is formed using a separate machine. 30 It is also known to provide a cane billet planter that forms the furrow just prior to dropping the billets into the furrow. Usually, some form of pre former or wedge shaped "shoe" is used to form a furrow in the top of the mound. To prevent the soil from falling back into the furrow before the billets are dropped into the furrow, it is known to 2 provide furrow forming plates on each side of the pre former which keeps the furrow open until the billets are dropped into the furrow. It is known to provide a separate machine to cover the cane billets afterwards. 5 It is also known to provide an attachment (usually a tine or something similar) in a rear part of the cane billet planter which tills the sides of the furrow to cover the cane. It is also known to provide some form of compaction wheel to compact the soil after the 10 cane has been covered with soil. It is also known for the cane billet planter to drop fertiliser in or next to the furrow during planting of the billets. Typically, the planter is provided with a fertiliser bin in which granular fertiliser (for example) can be placed. Some form of metering device 15 (usually an auger) is provided to meter the fertiliser. The fertiliser is dropped down a rigid tube that discharges the fertiliser in a furrow to the side of the planted billets or otherwise next to the billets. As examples only, US patent 5357882, US patent 4450778, US patent 4530293 and US 20 patent 4266490 illustrate different types of cane billet planters. There are some disadvantages with current machinery and current methods. It is very important that the cane billets sprout (shoot) as quickly as possible to prevent the cane billets being attacked by fungus, rot, or other diseases etc. It is found that one reason 25 that billets do not sprout as quickly as otherwise might be possible is that the billets are not properly positioned. That is, if the billets are planted in soil that is too dry, the billets will not sprout quickly. Also, the soil adjacent the billets must be kept warm (by the sun) and it is found that conventional planting techniques to not enable this to happen very efficiently. 30 Because current planting techniques can result in some of the billets not properly germinating, this places a limitation on the number of sugarcane plants that can grow in a row. There is a great advantage in being able to have the sugarcane plants growing 3 densely together on a row as this allows a sugarcane harvester to efficiently harvest the plants. To explain, harvesting of sugarcane is usually conducted on a cost per tonnage, and therefore the more material that can be harvested in a particular time the better. Densely planted sugarcane on a row will enable a sugarcane harvester to harvest a large 5 tonnage of sugarcane in a particular timespan which is a very efficient system. However, because of the planting difficulties it is found that there is a certain limit to the number of sugarcane plants that can be grown in a row. Speeding up the harvester will also enable the harvester to collect more cane per unit 10 time. However, it is found that speeding up the harvester also results in a larger amount of soil/stones etc being collected by the harvester which can result in adverse deterioration of the harvester components, and can also cause adverse deterioration on the crushing rolls in the sugar mill. Therefore, simply speeding up the harvester does not solve the problem of improving the harvesting efficiency of sugar cane. 15 Referring to figures 9 a-d, there is illustrated conventional planting methods. Figure 9a shows flat ground which is formed into a furrow (9b), by a machine that simply pushes the dirt to each side of the formed furrow. The billets can then be dropped into the furrow and lightly covered over. This is the position illustrated in figure 9b. Similarly, 20 figures 9c-9d illustrates something similar but this time where the ground has been mounded in a previous season (9c), and a pair of furrows formed in the mound and cane billets are planted in the bottom of each furrow (9d). One disadvantage with this conventional planting methodology is that the soil around the cane billets is not warmed by the morning sun or the afternoon sun because the side mounds prevent the sun from 25 striking the soil around the billets. Another disadvantage is that the furrows can collect water during a rain event and the water does not drain off very efficiently and soaks around the cane billets which can cause the cane billets to get a fungal disease that prevents germination. 30 There would be an advantage if it were possible to provide a method which would enable more sugarcane to be grown in a particular row. There would be an advantage if it were possible to provide a cane billet planter having a particular design which would 4 improve the amount of sugarcane that can be grown in a particular row. It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the 5 common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country. Object of the Invention. It is an object of the invention to provide a method and/or a planter which may overcome at least some of the above-mentioned disadvantages or provide a useful or 10 commercial choice. In one form, the invention resides in a method for planting sugarcane, the method comprising pre forming the ground along a row to be formed to loosen the soil and pushing the loosened soil to at least one side to expose damper underneath soil and to 15 form a bed ( e.g see figure 10b), dropping sugarcane billets onto the bed such that between 1-8 billets extend across the bed from adjacent edge of the bed to adjacent the other edge of the bed ( e.g see figure 10c), but leaving an edge space between the edge and the outermost billet on the bed, , covering the billets with soil obtained mainly from the ground in the edge space to form a mound and profiling the mound such that 20 the soil about the billets are better warmed by the sun's rays, all the above steps being carried out in a single pass along the ground. It is preferred that the above method includes a further step of filling the furrow in the edge space which will be formed after covering the billets with soil obtain mainly from 25 the ground in the edge space, and it is preferred that this filling step uses the soil that has been pushed to one side in the pre-forming step. Typically, the warming effect may be achieved by making the top of the mound relatively flat and each side of the mound inclined at an angle which promotes warming 30 of the soil by the sun. It is found that the mound can be much better kept warm by the sun if each side of the mound is an inclined of between 20-60' and typically about 400. The mound will typically have the profile illustrated in figure 10f, and it can be seen that this profile will catch the morning sun and the afternoon sun which is something 5 that was not very efficient with the existing techniques (see particularly figure 9b, and 9d, and furthermore, there are no furrows etc in the mound that can catch and retain water and cause fungal disease of the cane billets. 5 Also, harvesting of the sugarcane by a harvester may be more convenient with the particular mound profile. To further promote harvesting ease, it is preferred that the cane billets are dropped across the bed between a width of 300-600 mm. As an illustration only, figure 5 provides a profiled roller on the back of the cane billet 10 planter that profiles the mound according to a preferred embodiment of the invention and for the purposes of illustration only, the grey line underneath the profiled roller in figure 4 is an approximation of a mound profile that will be formed by the profiled roller as the roller moved over the mound. 15 The term "bed" is meant to include the soil that is exposed once the pre former loosens and removes part of the upper layer of soil. The bed may have a gentle inverted V shape configuration (see for instance figure 10 c), and may be below the normal surface of the ground, may be approximately at ground level, or may even be slightly above ground level (for instance if there is a mound formed in previous year). The bed may have a 20 width of between 300-900 mm. The soil in the "bed" is expected to be slightly damper and the dryer top layer of soil but there may be circumstances (e.g. after rain) where this is not necessarily the case or (e.g. during dry conditions) where the underlay of soil may also be substantially dry. 25 An advantage of having the inverted V-shape bed configuration, is that when the cane billets are dropped on the bed (e.g. figure 10 c), and soil is pushed to bury the billets (see for instance figure 10 d), there is less likelihood that this action will cause the billets to move relative to the bed and, for instance, become bunched together. In another form the invention resides in an apparatus that can loosen the soil (for 30 instance using a pre former, or plough, or scraper or something similar) to form a bed, and push the (typically dryer) loosened soil at least to one side (and typically both sides), plant sugarcane billets on the bed, replace damper soil back over the sugarcane billets to form a "rough" mound, and profile the mound to promote warming of the soil 6 around the billets by the sun. Typically, the top of the mound is relatively flat and each side of the mound is inclined at an angle which promotes warming of the soil by the sun. 5 It is preferred that the apparatus is designed such that when it replaces soil back over the sugarcane billets, it does not use the loosened soil that has been loosened by the pre former (as the soil can be quite dry), but instead it uses damper soil which is at the edges of the formed bed. 10 It is also preferred that the apparatus is designed such that any furrow that may have been formed by digging up the damper soil which is at the edges of the formed bed and pushing this soil over the billets is filled in and it is preferred that the loosened soil (dryer soil) is used to fill in any formed furrow. 15 The apparatus may comprise a cane billet planter. The cane billet planter may be self-propelled or towed behind a tractor (for example) and may comprise a hopper to store cane billets, a discharge chute or something similar through which the cane billets pass to drop the cane billets onto the ground/bed, means 20 to deliver the cane billets from the hopper to the chute, a pre former which removes an upper layer of soil to form a bed, prior to the cane billets being dropped on the bed , a cover means to cover the billets with soil to form a mound, and a mound profiler (typically a roller) which profiles the mound after the billets have been covered with soil. 25 Thus in another form the invention resides in a cane billet planter comprising a hopper to store cane billets, a pre former which removes an upper layer of soil to form a bed, a discharge chute to drop the cane onto the bed , a cover means to cover the billets with soil to form a mound, and a mound profiler which profiles the mound after the billets 30 have been covered with soil. The mound profiler can also function to compact the soil somewhat. The mound profiler may be able to adjust the compaction of the soil as the mound profiler profiles 7 the mound. The term "mound profiler" is meant to include that the profiler does more than simply press the soil down on top of the billets and instead also shapes the mound to promote 5 warming of the billets (that is warming of the soil around the billets) during the day. It is found that a desirable profile is one where the soil is, pressed and smoothed to catch the sun's rays to warm the soil to a temperature that promotes shooting (sprouting) of the billets. This profile may include a profile where the top of the mound is relatively 10 flat and each sidewall of the mound is at an angle of between 30-50' and typically about 400 to catch the sun's rays. This profile may also facilitate harvesting with reduced uptake of soil/stones etc into the harvester. The hopper may comprise any suitable shape or size but it is envisaged that the size of 15 the hopper will be such that it can accommodate enough billets to enable a good proportion of a paddock to be planted. Typically, the hopper will accommodate between 200 kg - 5000 kg of billets. The billets will typically be fed from the hopper to the discharge chute using some form 20 of means. A known type of the means includes an elevator which typically comprises an endless conveyor belt containing transverse blades and movement of the conveyor belt will elevate the billets from the hopper to the top of the discharge chute. If necessary, some form of "knock off" device may be provided to knock off excess billets back into the hopper. 25 The chute may comprise any suitable type of device or assembly or apparatus which can feed the cane billets onto the mound. Typically, the cane billets are simply dropped onto the bed. It is not considered that any particular limitation should be placed on the design of the chute save that the chute can function to feed the cane billets to the bed. 30 It is preferred that the chute (or chutes) is of the type that enables a number of billets to be dropped across the top of the bed. That is, rather than a single row of billets being dropped as the planter moves along the bed, it is preferred that the design is such that 8 between 2-8 billets can be dropped across the bed (that is from one edge of the bed to the other edge of the bed). With the method and the apparatus of the present invention, it is now achievable to have a larger number of billets across the bed than previously possible (which was usually a single billet). 5 It is also desirable that the billets are dropped to form a width across the bed of between 300-600mm. A pre former is provided. The pre former will typically form part of the planter and will 10 typically be in a forward part of the planter such that, as the planter moves along the mound, the pre former will loosen the soil. This will then expose the damper underneath soil and, by ensuring that the billets are planted in the damper underneath soil, it is found that the billets will shoot more quickly than hitherto possible. 15 Figure 3 illustrates a pre former according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The pre former will typically scrape off or loosen between 1-10 cm of soil, and the pre former is preferably shaped to have an arrowhead design to push the loosened soil to each side of the formed bed, and also to form a bed of sorts onto which the billets can be dropped.. This can of course vary to suit. The pre former may be adjustable in 20 height or angle or somehow else. The pre-former is typically designed to form a bed having a width of about 700 mm although this can vary to suit. For instance, the bed may be between 300-1200 mm or may have different values. The pre former, and typically a lower part thereof may be designed in such a manner that the bed has a slightly inverted V shaped configuration and example of which is illustrated in figure 10 25 b. A cover means is provided to cover the billets with soil The cover means may comprise a disk which is positioned at a particular angle and configuration such that it pushes or flicks soil back on top of the billets as the planter moves forwardly. The cover means 30 will typically be part of the planter and an example of a cover means according to an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in figure 6 and figure 8. The cover means may also form a rough mound by virtue of pushing the soil back over the billets on the bed. It is preferred that the cover means is designed to take damper soil 9 from the edges of the formed bed and to push this damper soil back over the top of the billets. That is, it is preferred that the cover means does not return the dryer soil that has been pushed to each side of the bed by the pre former. As an example, the cane billets may be dropped on to the bed but leaving an edge space between the last cane 5 billet and the edge of the bed and the cover means can dig soil from this edge space area and return this soil back over the top of the billets. This soil will typically be damper than the soil that has been pushed to each side of the pre former. The edge space will typically be between 30-200 mm and in a preferred example, the edge space will be about 50 mm. 10 The cover means may therefore form a furrow in the soil in the edge space as it digs the soil from this edge space and pushes the dug up soil back over the top of the billets. For this reason, the planter may contain some means (which may conveniently be called a sweeper) to fill in the formed furrow. The scraper may use the soil that has been 15 pushed to the (or each) side of the bed by the pre former as this is the dryer soil which is preferably not placed on top of the billets but can be used to fill in the furrow. Alternative or in addition thereto, there may be provided a scraper or other device to assist in forming replacing the soil prior to profiling the mound. 20 A mound profiler is provided to profile the mound after the billets have been covered with soil. The mound profiler will typically be part of the billet planter and will typically be positioned somewhat behind the cover means such that as soon as the cover means pushes the soil back over the billets, the mound profiler passes over the mound 25 to profile the mound. The mound profiler may comprise at least one roller which rolls over the mound and compresses the soil and shapes the soil. It is expected that the mound profiler will comprise a single profiled roller but there may be circumstances where there is an 30 advantage in providing a number of rollers. An example of a mound profiler according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in figure 4 and figure 5. The mound profiler may be powered to rotate such that it rolls over the mound instead of being pushed over the mound. It is preferred that the mound profiler also smoothes the 10 soil in the mound. The mound profiler will also preferably compress the soil, and it is preferred that the mound profiler can be adjusted in its compression ability (preferably continuously) and this can be done using one or more rams or something similar. 5 The cane billet planter may therefore be designed to scrape off part of the dryer top layer in a paddock drop the billets onto the damper underneath layer ( e.g. the bed) , dig up damper soil (typically in the edge space of the bed) and place this damper soil on top of the billets, and then fill in any furrow formed by digging up the damper soil with the scraped of dryer layer, and then press and profile the mound all in a single pass. 10 Conventionally, a cane billet planter digs a furrow in the ground and the dry top layer of soil is mixed with the damper under layer of soil and after the billets have been dropped into the furrow and the furrow closed, the mound is not profiled in any advantageous manner. 15 Brief Description of the Drawings. An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which:. 20 Figure 1. Illustrates a forward view of the cane billet planter. Figure 2. Illustrates a side view of the cane billet planter. Figure 3. Illustrates the pre former positioned in a lower front part of the cane billet planter. 25 Figure 4. Illustrates a rear view of the cane billet planter and illustrates the mound profiler situated underneath the cane billet planter. Figure 5. Illustrates a close-up view of the mound profiler. Figure 6. Illustrates the juxtaposition of the mound profiler and a cover means to cover the cane billets with soil (which in the particular embodiment comprises a circular 30 disk). Figure 7. Illustrates part of the cane billet planter. Figure 8. Illustrates a close-up view of parts of the cane billet planter. Figure 9. Illustrates schematically a PRIOR ART typical mound cross-section (top 11 figure), a furrow formed in the mound by conventional means (middle figure) and the cane billet placed in the furrow and buried by soil kicked back onto the mound (lower figure). Figure 10 A-H. Illustrates schematically planting according to the embodiment of the 5 invention Figure 11. Illustrates a mound that has been profiled by the planter. Figure 12. Illustrates a planter according to an embodiment of the invention in use. Figure 13. Illustrates a kicker plate to assist in returning the soil over the billets. Figure 14. Illustrates an optional accessory that can be attached to the planter 10 Best Mode. Referring initially to figure 1 and figure 2, there is illustrated a cane billet planter 10 which, in the particular embodiment is a towed vehicle and comprises ground wheels 15 11, a relatively large hopper 12 to hold cane billets, a pair of fertiliser bins 13, and an elevator 14 which comprises an endless conveyor and which functions to lift cane billets from the hopper 12 and to a discharge chute to drop the billets onto the ground. The elevator 14 is not in itself unusual in design and most cane billet planters contain some type of elevator to transfer the cane billets from the hopper to the discharge chute 15. 20 Part of the elevator 14 is also illustrated in figure 4. The bottom of each fertiliser bin 13 is connected to a metering device such as a feed auger 17 to feed fertiliser onto the mound to fertilise the sprouting billets. 25 In a lower front portion of the planter 10 is provided a pre former 16 which is best illustrated in figure 3. The pre former has an arrowhead type configuration and functions to scrape off or push off a layer of soil ( typically 10-40cm ) from the ground and push this soil to each side to a central bed having a width of about 700mm which may comprise damper soil which is better for germination of the cane billets. The upper 30 wall 16A of pre former 16 extends slightly forwardly (see figure 3) to make sure that the soil is pushed to each side of the pre former and does not simply fall over the top of the pre former. Referring to figure 2, the rear end of pre former 16 comprises a short inwardly turned wall portion 16B. The pre-former also configures the bed into a slightly 12 inverted V shape configuration. Behind the pre former is an opening (not illustrated) which forms the lower part of the discharge chute 15 . 5 In use, the elevator 14 lifts cane billets from the hopper and drops the cane billets into the discharge chute which then discharges the cane billets onto the ground (or perhaps more correctly the bed that has been formed by pre former 16). In the particular embodiment, the opening (not illustrated) is such that about five billets can be dropped 10 across the bed (see figure 1 Oc) as the planter travels along the field. A cover means is provided to cover the billets with soil . In the particular embodiment, the cover means comprises a circular disk 18 which is illustrated at least in figure 1, figure 2 and figure 6. Disk 18 is angled such that it forms a rough mound (see for 15 instance figure 10d). It is envisaged that there will be a disk 18 on each side and slightly behind the mound scraper 16. The positioning of disk 18 relative to the pre former is such that the disk will dig up the damper soil in each edge area 50 of the bed. This is illustrated at least in figure 10 c. The edge area has a width of about 50 mm and is created by making sure that the cane billets are not dropped entirely to the edge of the 20 bed but instead the outer most cane billet is spaced from the edge of the bed by about 50 mm. The disk can then dig up the damper soil in this edge area and push the damper soil back over the top of the billets this being illustrated in figure 10 d. It can be seen that a furrow 51 is formed in each edge area 50 by virtue of the soil having been dug up by the disk and pushed over the billets to form a rough mound. 25 This furrow 51 is filled in with the drier soil 52 that has been pushed to each side of the bed by the pre former. In the particular embodiment, a small sweeper 16C (see figure 10 d) but also see figure 6, is provided which is positioned on the outside of disk 18 and spaced therefrom and which functions to scrape the drier soil 52 into furrow 51 to 30 ultimately provide a mound shape illustrated in figure 10e. Behind disk 18 is a mound profiler 19. The mound profiler 19 is illustrated at least in figure 2, and clearly illustrated in figure 4 and figure 5, and also illustrated in figure 6.

13 The mound profiler comprises a profiled roller which extends underneath the planter 10 (see figure 4). The function of profiler 19 is to compress the soil in the roughly formed mound and to also smooth and profile the mound to have a particular cross-section configuration. The desired cross-section configuration is illustrated in figure 10e, and it 5 can be seen that this cross-section configuration corresponds to the profile of the profiled roller 19 (see figure 5). In figure 5, the lines beneath mound profiler 19 illustrate the profile of the mound that will be formed. The mound profiler (that is the profiled roller 19) is rotated by a hydraulic motor 20 (see 10 figure 6) and is designed to roll over the mound at the same speed of the planter. A scraper 21 (see for instance figure 5) is provided to scrape any attached dirt off the mound profiler, such that the outer wall of the mound profiler stays clean and smooth to provide a smooth profiled mound. The profiled roller 19 can be pressed on to the soil mound and this can be achieved using hydraulic rams 22 (see figure 6). 15 The various components of the planter 10 (e.g. the elevator 14, the motor 20 that drives the mound profiler, the auger that feeds fertiliser etc can all be powered by hydraulics and the hydraulics may be connected to the lead tractor or something else. Alternatively, a small engine may be provided on the planter to drive a hydraulic pump. 20 Referring to figure 9a-b, this illustrates a conventional PRIOR ART planting method where a furrow is formed by pushing the soil to each side of the furrow (9 b) and the cane billets are dropped into the furrow and lightly covered. Figures 9c and 9d illustrates something similar but this time with a preformed mound. 25 Referring to figure 10 a-e , this illustrates the method according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the ground (10 a) has a top layer of drier soil which is removed by the cane billet planter such that a bed 53 is formed with the dryer scraped off soil 52 being on each side of the bed (10 b). Cane billets 26 can then be 30 planted across the bed (10c), and it is possible to plant five billets across the bed to greatly improve the density of sugarcane plants. The outer most cane billets are spaced inwardly from the edge of the bed to form an edge spacing 50 of about 50 mm. Disk 18 of the planter digs up soil in the edge area 50 (which is damper soil) and pushes this soil 14 on top of the billets (10d) to form a rough un-profiled heap of soil. The furrow 51 which is left behind by the dug up soil is filled in using a scraper 16 c and using the drier soil 52, and to form a rough mound 10e. The profiled roller profiles the mound (1Of) in such a way that the sides of the mounds are an angle of about 400 (or thereabouts) which 5 means that the billets buried in the mound can be warmed by the sun for longer than is achieved by conventional techniques. Figures 10 g-h illustrates the first two steps which are used according to the embodiments of the invention in case where there is a preformed mound (10g) - 10 typically formed in the previous season -- and the pre-former pushes through the mound to form the bed 10h, which is similar to that described in 10 b and therefore the subsequent steps are similar to that described from 10 b-10f. Figure 11 illustrates a mound that has been profiled by the planter according to the 15 embodiment of the invention. Figure 12. Illustrates a close up view of a planter according to the embodiment of the invention in use. 20 The planter may also contain other accessories. For instance, a forward part of the planter may contain a device or apparatus to remove weeds from the row. This device or apparatus may comprise some form of tilling device. As an example only, figure 14 illustrates a tilling device of relatively conventional manufacture and which is attached to the front of the tractor, and something similar may also be attached to the front of the 25 planter or other devices and accessories may be attached to or form part of the planter. Throughout the specification and the claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to apply the inclusion of the stated integer or group of integers but not the 30 exclusion of any other integer or group of integers. Throughout the specification and claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term "substantially" or "about" will be understood to not be limited to the 15 value for the range qualified by the terms. Any embodiment of the invention is meant to be illustrative only and is not meant to be limiting to the invention . Therefore, it should be appreciated that various other changes 5 and modifications can be made to any embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. June 25, 2007 10

Claims (20)

1. A cane billet planter comprising a hopper to store cane billets, a pre former which removes an upper layer of soil to form a bed, a discharge chute to drop 5 the cane billets onto the bed , a cover means to cover the cane billets with soil to form a mound, and a mound profiler which profiles the mound after the cane billets have been covered with soil to form a shaped mound in which each side of the mound is an incline of between 200 to 60*, all achieved in a single pass. 10

2. The planter of claim 1, wherein the pre former pushes the soil to at least one side of the bed, and the cover means digs up soil adjacent the edge of the bed and puts this dug up soil back over the billets.

3. The planter of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pre former 15 has an arrowhead configuration and pushes the soil to each side of the bed.

4. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pre former forms a bed with an inverted V shape. 20

5. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover means comprises a circular disc which is positioned behind the pre former and in front of the mound profiler and which functions to push the soil back onto the bed and over the cane billets and to form a rough mound. 25

6. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a cover means is provided behind each side of the pre former.

7. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mound profiler comprises a roller. 30

8. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mound profiler rotates over the mound to profile the mound. 17

9. The planter as claimed in claim 8, wherein the mound profiler is rotated by a motor to rotate over the mound to profile the mound.

10. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the 5 mound profiler also compresses the soil in the mound.

11. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mound profiler is substantially as illustrated in figure 4, figure 5 and figure 6. 10

12. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the pre former is substantially as illustrated in figure 3, figure 2, and figure 8.

13. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover means is substantially as illustrated in figure 2, and figure 6. 15

14. The planter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the cover means digs up soil from adjacent the bed leaving a furrow and pushes this soil over the cane billets. 20

15. The planter as claimed in claim 14 including a sweeper which is separate from the cover means and which fills in the furrow formed by the cover means.

16. A planter substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the 25 accompanying illustrations.

17. A planting apparatus, which in a single pass is adapted to: a. loosen the top layer of soil on the ground to form a bed and push the loosened soil at least to one side, 30 b. drop sugarcane billets onto the bed, c. replace at least the loosened soil back over the sugarcane billets to form a rough mound, and, d. profile the mound such that the top of the mound is relatively flat and 18 each side of the mound is inclined at an angle which promotes warming of the soil by the sun.

18. The planter as claimed in any one of claims 1-16, or the apparatus as 5 claimed in claim 17, wherein between 1-10 billets are dropped across the bed.

19. The planter or apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein between three-eight billets are dropped across the bed. 10

20. A method for planting sugarcane, the method comprising pre formering the ground along a row to be formed to loosen the soil, pushing the loosened soil to at least one side to expose damper underneath soil and to form a bed, dropping sugarcane billets onto the bed such that between 1-8 billets extend across the bed from one edge of the bed to the other edge of the bed, covering the billets with soil to form 15 a mound and profiling the mound to form a shaped mound in which each side of the mound is an incline of between 20* to 60' such that the soil about the billets are better warmed by the sun's rays, all the above steps being carried out in a single pass along the ground. 20