DRILLING. 39 



fair distribution over the whole surface to be soivn. When 

 seed is sown broadcast, it is generally raked or harrowed into 

 the ground, and afterwards rolled ; when sown in drills, the-^ 

 may be made by hand, and the seed may be covered in by 

 hand with a hoe, or the machine which makes drills, and 

 deposits the seeds, is contrived so as to cover it over at the 

 same time. Dibbling in seeds is frequently resorted to ir 

 gardens ; and of late years, even the sowing or dibbling in ot 

 wheat upon a large scale has been advocated with some 

 energy by those who affect to have succeeded. Machines 

 have been constructed so as to make small holes in the ground, 

 and leave their seeds in the holes, so that, with comj)aratively 

 little trouble or labour, a large extent of land can be sown 

 with an immense saving of seed, and a uniformity that could 

 never be secured by hand. 



Drilling. — The efficacy of these several modes of getting 

 seed into the ground is much the same ; there are some general 

 rules to attend to, and there ends all that concerns the germi- 

 nation, so far as the sowing goes. In all garden matters, the 

 sowing by hand is generally reported to, and it is simply a 

 question, often settled by what a man has been used to, 

 whether he will soav broadcast or in drills, turnips, carrots, 

 parsnips, beetroot, parsley, spinach, and various other crops, 

 that require to be left at certain distances apart to complete 

 their growth. When sown in drills, we require to have the 

 drills at just the distance apart that the plants are to be left, 

 because then we have only to thin the plants in the row to 

 the same distance as the drills are apart, and we have the 

 work done. Young gardeners are recommended to adopt the 

 diill system, because it is such a capital guide to them in the 

 thinning out of the crops ; but experienced gardeners sow 

 broadcast, because it is the quickest operation, and they can 

 chop out the plants to the proper distances from habit. We 

 recommend drill culture for young gardeners, because, although 

 it takes longer time to sow, it takes much less time to thin out, 

 and the straight lines are such a guide to the unpractised 

 hand. Beans and peas are cultivated in rows, consequently 

 are always sown in drills, and there are other subjects which 

 are for the most part dibbled in. Potatoes, for instance, are 

 dibbled in, one man going along the rows making holes of a 

 right depth, into which his follower drops the sets as he ad- 

 vances ; but we prefer even potatoes planted in di'ills of a 



