330 THE SMALL GRAINS 



4-inch depth. At the Arkansas Station, a 3-year test 

 was made of shallow, medium, and deep seeding of wheat, 

 without specifying the actual depth in each c'ase, resulting 

 in 25.4 bushels average yield to the acre for the shallow, 

 21.6 bushels for the medium, and 20.0 bushels for the deep 

 seeding. It was concluded that seeding of winter wheat 

 should not, under ordinary conditions, be much deeper 

 than 1 inch. At the Minnesota Station, in tests of the 

 depths of seeding barley, the shallowest seeding gave the 

 largest yield of straw and smallest yield of grain, while 

 the deepest seeding gave a larger yield of grain and a 

 smaller yield of straw. It is probable that an average 

 depth of all cereal seeding for the whole Eastern area 

 should be from 1 to 2 inches. In dry localities or in dry 

 seasons, the depth must be increased to 2| or 3 inches, 

 that the kernels may reach the moist earth. 



357. Method of seeding. The two methods of 

 seeding small cereals in most common use are drilling 

 and broadcasting. The use of the drill is gradually in- 

 creasing, but it is probable that the greater portion of the 

 oat crop is even yet sown broadcast and the seed covered 

 with the disk harrow or smoothing harrow (351). The 

 seed should be distributed evenly and at a uniform 

 depth, both of which are possible with the drill, but 

 neither result is obtained in broadcasting. The seed is 

 covered more uniformly, there is a better percentage of 

 germination, and consequently less seed is required when 

 the drill is used. The drill furrows catch the snow and 

 rain and (if these furrows are at right angles to the sur- 

 face slope) hold the moisture for the benefit of the cereal 

 plants. In 3-years experiments at the Arkansas Station in 

 methods of seeding wheat, the average gain in drilling 

 over broadcasting was 3.6 bushels to the acre. In 3-years 



