358 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



966,792 per acre ; while one bushel, planted October 15th, gave only 

 812,160. 



Two plants of 24 ears each gave 1,911 and 1,878 grains, or 79 per 

 ear ; 20 ears per foot, at 48 grains only per ear, would produce 88 

 bushels per acre. All th* 1 conditions of time and space being fulfilled, 

 we can obtain from a single parent-grain as many ears as are ordina- 

 rily obtained from twenty grains, with this most important advantage, 

 viz. : these ears being produced from plants which have attained (or 

 nearly so) perfect development of their growth, contain more than 

 double the common number of grains, and their contents may be 

 largely increased by the continued annual selection of the most vigor- 

 ous parent-grains. These small quantities may be drilled on a large 

 scale in the following manner : The object is to insure perfect single- 

 ness and regularity of plant, with uniformity of depth. The two latter 

 may be obtained by the drill, as may the former also by adopting the 

 following plan : The seed-cups ordinarily used in drilling wheat are 

 so large that they deliver in bunches of grains, consisting of six or 

 seven, which fall together within a very small area, from which a less 

 produce will be obtained than if it had been occupied by a single 

 grain. The additional grains are thus not only wasted, but are posi- 

 tively injurious. By using seed-cups which are only large enough to 

 contain one grain at a time, a stream of single grains is delivered, and 

 the desired object, viz., the depositing of grains singly, at once at- 

 tained. The intervals in the rows will not be exactly uniform, but 

 they will be sufficiently so for all practical purposes. The width of 

 these intervals will, of course, depend on the speed with which the 

 seed-barrel revolves, which can be regulated at will by adjusting the 

 gear which drives it. By this mode of drilling, the advantage of the 

 "broad-cast" system is obtained (equal distribution), as the rows may 

 be close together, and the grains as thin in the rows as may be desired. 



The crop should be hoed, as soon and as frequently as possible, 

 with a horse-hoe. If the seed has been sown early, this should be 

 done in the autumn, as it causes the plants to tiller and occupy the 

 whole ground before winter sets in. It is essential to the success of 

 thin seeding to keep the land perfectly free from weeds during the 

 growth of the crop. 



Now, what are the advantages of Major Hallett's system ? A 

 bushel of pedigree wheat (original red) produced from single grains, 

 planted 12 inches X 12 inches, contains about 460,000 grains, while a 

 bushel of ordinary wheat contains 700,000 or more grains. Therefore, 

 in two crops consisting of exactly the same number of grains, the crop 

 from thin seeding would be upward of 70 bushels against 46 bushels 

 per acre. Again, a bushel of pedigree barley, produced from grains 

 planted singly, contains 390,400 grains ; while a bushel of ordinary 

 barley contains upward of 550,000, or, in two crops of equal numbers 

 of grains, the one would be 55 bushels, the other 39 bushels, per acre. 



