2S4 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



Seeding Thick or Tliin. — The following observations on seeding "thick or thin" are com- 

 niunicite'l to one of the English Agricultural Journals, by Messrs. Hardy & Son, seed- 

 growers, Maiden, England: — 



"Repeated experiments have proved that the capabilities of grains of corn, whether wheat, 

 barley, or oats, are only to be known by planting early, thinly, and singly, and in order for 

 the full development of each grain, whether on poor or rich soils, it requires to be planted 

 at least three feet apart, square. Although the notion of planting at this extreme distance 

 may be ridiculed and pronounced illogical by thick seeders, yet we contend that by judicious 

 management on good and well-prepared soils, and by planting early in September, each 

 plant of wheat thus treated will invariably not fail to produce four thousand-fold; and half a 

 pint of selected seed is thus sufficient to plant one acre, and, as a natural consequence, it is 

 of course quite possible to obtain a produce of four thousand half-pints — equal to thirty-one 

 bushels and one peck per acre — quite equal to the average yield of the United Kingdom, from 

 the opposite extreme and ordinary practice of sowing two hundred and fifty-six half-pints, 

 or two bushels of seed, and sometimes more, to the acre. Anomalous as this may appear, 

 yet it is certain, and ' 1 < ■ f i i - « irrefragable evidence to prove the contrary, that while four 

 thousand-fold is thus obtainable from a half-pint of seed, not thirty-fold is nor can possibly 

 be obtained from a full crop of two hundred and fifty-six times the quantity, by reason of 

 its extreme thickness; for, were it so, thirty times two bushels would be the average yield, 

 viz.. sixty bushels per acre. If our agricultural friends will take the trouble to plant or 

 thin small plots of their wheat to about six inches by twelve apart, or about eighteen plants 

 to the square yard, (the distance we believe proper for obtaining the fullest crops,) their 

 expectations will be fully realized. As the season is now too far advanced to prove the cor- 

 rectness of this statement on wheat crops, we do trust that some unprejudiced farmers will 

 take the trouble to plant, transplant, or thin singly about a rod at least of their barley or 

 oat crops, in the middle of their fields, when it has been up about a fortnight, and after- 

 wards keep it clean by hoeing it deeply with a hack hoe; then all their doubt of the reason- 

 ableness of this expostulation will be removed. — Hardy $ Son, Seed- Growers, Maiden, 

 England. 



Cost of Raising Wheat, Corn, &c. 



Mb. W. IT. Joumsov, of Geneva, New York, publishes in the Journal of the New York 

 State Agricultural Society a detailed farm account, from which we gather the following inte- 

 n-ting i t.-in<- reelecting the cost of ilifferent crops the last season. The farm of Mr. J. con- 

 tains 80 acres of tillable land, divided into nine hits, numbered from one upwards, and accu- 

 rate aeoonnl kept with each. The soil is a dry loam, with a clay subsoil, pretty uniform 

 throughout the farm. Each crop is charged with the interest on the value of the land pro- 

 dneing it, and with all the labor ami material need in its production. Of wheat, six acres 

 were sown, the whole expense was $122.40; the product was 126 bushels, or 121 bushels pec 

 : this makes iN cost per bushel a trifle over 97 cents. Bat deducting the raise of the 

 .v. estimated at $18, we make thfl COSt of the wheat but 83 cents per bushel. It was sold 

 £1.81, leaving a fair margin for profit al either figure. But at the price of wheat for 

 many yean past, the profit would have been little <.r nothing. 



Bight acres of barley cost $102. 'JO, ami produced I'M bushels, or 35J bushels per acre. It 

 nearly ; !7 cent-, and sold for $1.00 pel busbeL This produced a greater per cent, of 

 profit than the wheat, as we believe it generally has for a series of years. 



oorn ondorer sod cost $168.26. The prednet was 410 buaheh ; ami 



worth of Oorn-etalkl. Mr. Johnson states the cost of raising the corn at 87j cents per 



bushel : but if we deduct the value of the stalks from the whole sgp enae, it Bakes the cost 

 of the corn but ~'Z \ cents per bushel) 



Ten kepi upon the farm, yielding nn average of 210 pounds of butter em h. Mr. 



.t. estimates the produce of each cow worth about $64, and the cost of keeping $26.86. It 



• r_'\ cents per pound to make butter on Blmwood Farm, and we think it cannot be sold 

 for IflfS anywhere With much profit. His pork, killed at 9$ months old, fed on milk and fat- 



