the Farm.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 10, 10 September 1874, Page 4

the Farm.

. — ; ♦' '■ — ; , ' THIN SOWING, j An exchange 5 writes :~How often r has this subject been ventilated by I nearly all papers which treat upon agrif cultural subjects ; at the Jsame ' time what little attention is paid, or rather | has been paid to it. -Seasons of sowingfollow each other in regular succession, ■ but thus far the same extravagant distribution of seed for C6real crops has [ continued. The idea which for years . occupied the mind of farmers, that "if , you don't put plenty on, you can't get plenty off," ought to be pretty well exploded, and it is now become a question among the more intelligent ' class at home how little can be sown. ! It is at last believed by the practical ! portion of farmers that two wheat ' plants ought no more to grow in immediate connection than two peach ; trees or two cabbages. Why should ' they 1 To obtain fine, thin wheat straw for the manufacture of Leg- " horn bonnets, so much- as from eight » to ten bushels of seed is used per acre ; but where grain is sought after — full- ' grown and plump grain — the principle 1 now pursued, or recommended .to be pursued, is to sow only from six to '• seven pecks ; in fact, we have known t one peck dibbled at equal distances, i where every grain germinated, produce • forty bushels per acre. Why should > not a grain of wheat, barley, or oats have the same fair play as a vegetable or a tree ? And yet we sow the first as ' if it required no room, and the latter as 1 if three or twenty feet respectively was > not too much. A cereal plant requires nearly a foot square of land. Mr. Michie has written some very trite re- ; marks upon thin sowing. He says : — " It is very interesting to watch the • progress of a thin-sown portion of s wheat or other cereal sown iv the same field, at the same time, manured in the same way, and growing side by side ;" with its thicker sown neighbor. At first all seems doubt, and almost de- ; spair; gradually, and after spring, i there is a thickening and an improvement ; still, to all appearance, it can never rival its neighbor ; but at length, and within three weeks of harvest, the , latter stands nearly still, and up goes in triumph the crop which has caused [ us during its growth so many doubts and misgivings." There is a good . deal of truth in the above. Man y of , our readers can call to mind the receiv- , ing and sowing some seed or other pre- ' sented to them as something extra good , and worth cultivation. It is put in by ' itself, with no rival close by ; it grows, and produces an extraordinary crop, and is pronounced a success. Sowing folloMS sowing, but gradually the thick system of planting begins to tell, and the '• sort " of grain is frequently [ almost condemned through the folly of the grower. Thin sowing produces , abundance of ears, but of no size ; a thickly sown crop looks well at a dis- , tance, bnt upon examination at reaping :• time the grains will be found small and the weight wanting. Professor Buckman, in a recent lecture on "experi- . ments in the growth of corn," stated ; that it was by cultivated processes, by , care and cultivation, that they had got , corn to the perfection in which it was at present found. He was convinced' the best seeds were as essential in se- , curing excellence in plants as were the best stock for the production of \ good animals ; and care and attention bestowed in the former were just as likely to lead to a degree of perfection as in the latter case. Choice of seeds , was of great importance, and they ' should be sown, not in the proportion some persons adopted, but upon those principles which were admitted to produce the very best results. „ He strongly urged in favor of thin sowing with good seed. A specimen of wheat was exhibited at the lecture grown by the well-known skilled culj turist, Major Halle tt, on the plan of ' thin sowing with the very best seeds , he could collect. The seed, iv this instance, was put in the ground six inches . apart, and a foot dividing the rows ; ' the specimen was remarkably fine and bulky, and the plant consisted of over \ forty stems. If any farmer will take \ the trouble to notice stray plants growing singly on the headland, or in many other spots, he will generally find them \ strong and lusty, with stiff straw and \ noble ears. When the best samples of wheat are chosen for seed, and are sown judiciously thin, and upon a well-con-ditioned seed-bed, there is no fear of disease, nor any occasion for the use of sulphate of copper, lime, or any other . pickle. Many farmers in England now consider that the dressings of seed prior to sowing are injurious, inasmuch as they penetrate seed and destroy the germ. After the evidence which is constantly cropping up against thick sowing of our grains, it is astonishing it is not more attended to ; not only are the results more satisfactory as far as regards yield, but it is far cheaper in -every way, and certainly less trouble.