MANURE IN THE FALL. 165 



up, arc so delicate and small that they are very apt to get sun- 

 burnt and destroyed. Were it not for that, I would as soon sow 

 the first of June as the 25th of May. 



I like to sow just the amount of seed that I desire to have 

 grow, to avoid the necessity of thinning. Thinning a crop 

 requires as much labor as once weeding. If you can sow just 

 the required quantity you have saved that labor. Three and a 

 quarter pounds of seed, if sowed properly, is enough for an 

 acre. I raise and prepare my seed myself, and know that every 

 seed I put into the ground will grow ; and I can regulate my 

 machine so that it will not vary two ounces from the quantity of 

 seed that I require for an acre. I use Willis's machine, which, 

 I think, is the best. I have made one of my own, with a double 

 hopper, and sometimes, if I think best, I sow with the seed 

 some special fertilizer ; though I am very sorry to say that some 

 of those special fertilizers that I have bought and paid for and 

 sown have not amounted to anything at all. But I have used 

 fertilizers in that way, and I have a machine made with a double 

 hopper for the purpose of sowing the fertilizer and seed at the 

 same time ; and if the fertilizer is good for anything, it is just 

 exactly where the seed is, so that the early plant will get the 

 benefit of it. 



With regard to manure, I liked the remarks of the gentle- 

 man with reference to applying it in the fall. I have myself, 

 this fall, applied manure that I had made through the summer 

 to about four acres, that I design for the root crop next year, 

 and ploughed it it. It prepares the ground very nicely for the 

 next year's crop, and helps very much the spring work, and we 

 are always so hurried in the spring, where we attend to garden- 

 ing, that if we can do a part of the work in the fall, it is a very 

 great help. If we apply our manure in the spring, it must of 

 necessity be composted ; that is, pitched over two or three times, 

 to have it cured, ripened and matured. I shouldn't think of 

 raising a crop of roots from green manure. I should expect to 

 raise a large crop of tops and a small crop of roots ; but with 

 matured, ripened, well-mixed manure, compost manure, the 

 tendency is to roots rather than to tops ; and by applying the 

 manure in the fall, even if it is green, it will become properly 

 matured by the time it is wanted for the plants. I never use 

 less than six cords to the acre — seldom more than eight. From 



