385 



acre; and planted similarly October 4,* 93G,7G2 per acre; -wbile 1 bnslicl planted 

 October 15, gave onlj' 812,160. 



. Two planta 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 11 quarters per acre. 



All the conditions of time and space being fulfilled, -we can obtain from a single parent 

 grain as many ears as are ordinarily obtained from twenty grains, with this most im- 

 portant advantage, viz : these ears being produced from plants which have attained 

 (or nearly so) perfect development of their growth, contain more than double tbe com- 

 mon number of grains, aud their contents may be largely increased b.y the continued 

 annual selection of the most vigorous parent grains. 



These small quantities may in the following manner be drilled on a large scale with- 

 out additional expense : 



My principal object is to insure perfect singleness aiid regularity of plant with uni- 

 formity of depth. The two latter may be attained 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 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. Tbe additional grains are thus not only wasted, but 

 are positively injurious. 13y using seed-cups, however, v/hich are only sufficiently largo 

 to contain one grain at a time, a stream of single grains is delivered, and the desired ob- 

 ject, viz., the depositing of grains singly, at once attained. 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 upon the velocity with which the seed- 

 barrel revolves, which can be regulated at pleasure by a proper arrangement of the cog- 

 wheels which drive it. By drilling thus we obtain the advantage of the " Ijroad-cast" 

 system also, equal distribution, as wc can have the rows as close together, and the grains 

 as thin in the rows as we please. 



The crop should be hoed as soon and as frequently as practicable, with Garrett's 

 horse-hoe. If the seed has been sown early this sliould be done in the autumn, as it 

 causes the plants to tiller and occupy the whole ground before the wijiter sets in. It 

 is essential to the success of thin sowing to keep the land perfectly free from weeds 

 during the growth of the crop. 



We will now consider a few facts as to what may be produced uuder my system. 



Aud first I would draw attention to the effect upon the crop of the mere iucieased 

 size of the grain produced. 



A bushel of pedigree wheat, (original red,) produced from single grains, planted 12 

 by 12, contains about 460,000 grains, while a bushel of ordinary wheat contains 700,000 

 grains and upwards. Therefore, in two crops consisting of precisely the same number 

 of grains, the crop from the thin seeding would be upwards of 70 bushels against 46 

 bushels, or 9 quarters against 6 quarters, per acre. 



Again, a bushel of pedigree barley, produced from grains planted singly 12 inches by 

 12 inches, contains 390,400 graius, while a bushel of ordiuary barley contaius upwards 

 of 550,000, or in two crops of equal nmnhers of graius the one would be 55 bushels, the 

 other :19, or 7 quarters against 5 quarters per acre. 



Thus in tbe increased size alone of the grains produced we obtain an increase of 

 crop of from 40 to 50 per cent. 



The following are some of the advantages which, apart from the increase of crop ob- 

 tained, would attend the adoption of the August and earl^' September sowiug of a 

 proper quantity of seed : 



1. The saving of seed. — Although this is no main object of my plan, but only, as it were, a 

 necessity arising out of it, this single one of its features is in itself of national importance, 

 resulting in a saving of nearhj one million quarters of wheat alone. 



2. Power of ivithstanding frost and insects. — The roots of wheat sown in August become 

 by the middle of October so developed as to render it quite safe from lifting by the 

 frost, and attacks of wire-worm, &c., would be almost entirely unknown. 



3. Forwarding of the tvork of the farm. — If the wheat were practically all drilled by 



Gave earfi. Per foot. 



2184 _____ ofix 



1832 _____ 27 



420 _____ 30 



282 _____ 251-7 



395 _____ 2^ 



322 _____ 23 



276 _____ 20 



303 _____ 21i 

 317 _____ 26i 



304 _____ 23 



95 2199 



2199, (22^ incdudiiig luiHses,) or 900,792 per acre. 



