66 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



ing, which places it in rows; and dibbling, in which a certain 

 number of grains are dropped in each hill by means of a 

 dibbling iron. Diverse means have been employed in each 

 method. Dibbling, once quite extensively practiced in England, 

 is never found now, unless it is with the experimenter. Na- 

 ture's method, broadcasting, was also the first method of arti j 

 ficial seeding. The seed was simply scattered by -hand. Of the 

 three ways, drilling is now recognized as the most advan- 

 tageous. The conclusion from station experiments is that the 

 increase in yield will amply pay for any extra cost involved in 

 drilling. 1 Less seed is required, for the wheat is more uni- 

 formly distributed and covered. If it is sown at an even depth 

 in moist soil, quick germination results. This places weeds at 

 a disadvantage, especially in spring wheat. Drilling also de- 

 creases the danger from drought, winterkilling, and the blow- 

 ing of soil by the winds. The snow lodged in the furrows left 

 by the drill affords protection and moisture. 



Seeders. After hand sowing came the seeder, which accom- 

 plished the same results mechanically. Such machines are by 

 no means modern, though in England and Germany they can 

 be traced only to the beginning of the seventeenth century. 

 The ancient Chinese, Persians, Hindoos and Romans used them, 

 as well as the drill, which was doubtless the next seeding ma- 

 chine to be invented. Ardrey maintains that the first histori- 

 cal knowledge of a seeder pertains to an Assyrian drill used 

 many centuries before Christ. The Egyptians of 3000 B. C. 

 sowed by hand, the method still widely followed all over the 

 world where the farms are very small, or where the standard of 

 farming is not high, as, for example, among the lower classes 

 of Russian peasantry. In early England the wheat was sown 

 into the plow furrow, often by a mere child, who carried a bag 

 or wooden hopper (known as a seedlip or seedcod) full of grain 

 in front of the horses or oxen drawing the plow. The same 

 practice prevails in east central India, a woman taking the 

 place of the child. By another method in India, the seed is 

 thrown through a tube attached to the plow handles. 



Jethro Tull introduced the drill in England in 1730. His 

 first machine sowed three rows of wheat at a time. In 1851 

 * Hunt. Cereals in Amer (1904). p. 84. 



