11 



Oldham county. — " I have sown witli the drill several years and have never had 

 a failure, while broadcast this year nearly all froze out in February and jMarch, 

 or, more properly speaking, froze in the ground. The land was very dry in 

 February, when the extreme cold weather came, which froze the Avheat to death, 

 of most of the broadcast sowing, leaving the roots of the wheat in the ground, 

 but entirely dry. 



PEX.XSVLVANIA. 



Armstrong county. — " "Winter wheat not half a crop ; the drilled is much the 

 best — has stood the freeze much better than the broadcast." 



Lehigh county. — " Since 1850 the drill has been in general use in this countv. 

 At present tAvo-thirds of the farmers use it, having found it a safeguard against 

 freezing out, and a saving of seed." 



Wcst7norc1and county. — "The past winter has, I think, thoroughly tested the 

 question whether drilling is superior to broadcast sowing for fall grain. In this 

 county all have suffered equally. On my own farm I drilled about the half of 

 a ten-acre lot, and sowed broadcast the remainder. At the present time I can 

 see no difference, each portion being badly injured by the severe weather of the 

 past winter. But in ordinary seasons drilling may be advantageous ; still I 

 think it is an open question, to be decided, not so much by the 7node of sowing, 

 as by the previous preparation of the soil." 



Montgomery county. — "We have had a very favorable and wet spring. 

 Wheat, though frozen out considerably, looks well ; that sown by the drill was 

 not much injured, but tha sown broadcast was, at least, yq frozen out." 



NEW YORK. 



Chciming county. — " The present winter has levelled all distinctions in effect of 

 drill and broadcast sowing. There is no difference in a field of mine, one-half 

 drilled and one-half broadcast. The wheat was not thrown out, but dried to 

 death. Some fields look better in sheltered situations as a wood or hill on the 

 nothwest side, also by or near fences." 



Chautauqua county. — "Wheat that was drilled in last fall looks much better 

 now than that soAvn broadcast. Drilled wheat stands freezing and heaving ou.t 

 much better than broadcast sowing." 



Ontario county. — "As we have got through harvest, I will give you the in- 

 formation you ask relative to drilled and broadcast-sown wheat. We had six- 

 teen acres of wheat drilled, which is estimated at thirty bushels per acre, whilst 

 the next field soavu broadcast is estimafe'd at but ten bushels per acre. Both 

 fields were cultivated in the best manner, are tile-drained, and were well ma- 

 nured. We drill t7oo bushels of seed per acre, and sow three broadcast. So 

 you will perceive that there is a great saving of seed by drilling. It also, by 

 leaving the ground in ridges, protects the plant from the cold winter winds, and 

 in the spring, as the earth thaws out, it crumbles and falls around the roots. 

 Hence the roots are not injured by alternate thawing and freezing, as are those 

 of the broadcast sowing." 



COMMENTS. 



1. The most prominent thing that strikes the reader of these extracts is their 

 almost unanimous testimony for the superior excellence of drill sowing. Even 

 where broadcast sowing is regarded as equal if the same care was observed in 

 the preparation of the soil, yet, if it would in all such cases be equal to the 

 di-illed, there still remains the fact that broadcast sowing leads to insufficient 

 preparation, and drill sowing to its observance. Add to this reason the fact 

 stated by the last correspondent, that broadcast sowing requires a third more 

 seed, and it must be conceded that this mode should be entirely abandoned. But 



