284 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



Seeding Thick or Thin. The following observations on seeding "thick or thin" are com- 

 municated to one of the English Agricultural Journals, by Messrs. Hardy & Son, seed- 

 growers, Maiden, England: 



"Repeated experiments have proved that the capabilities of grains of corn, whether wheat, 

 barley, or oats, are only to be known by planting early, thinly, and singly, and in order for 

 the full development of each grain, whether on poor or rich soils, it requires to be planted 

 at least three feet apart, square. Although the notion of planting at this extreme distance 

 may be ridiculed and pronounced illogical by thick seeders, yet we contend that by judicious 

 management on good and well-prepared soils, and by planting early in September, each 

 plant of wheat thus treated will invariably not fail to produce four thousand-fold ; and half a 

 pint of selected seed is thus sufficient to plant one acre, and, as a natural consequence, it is 

 of course quite possible to obtain a produce of four thousand half-pints equal to thirty-one 

 bushels and one peck per acre quite equal to the average yield of the United Kingdom, from 

 the opposite extreme and ordinary practice of sowing two hundred and fifty-six half-pints, 

 or two bushels of seed, and sometimes more, to the acre. Anomalous as this may appear, 

 yet it is certain, and defies irrefragable evidence to prove the contrary, that while four 

 thousand-fold is thus obtainable from a half-pint of seed, not thirty-fold is nor can possibly 

 be obtained from a full crop of two hundred and fifty-six times the quantity, by reason of 

 its extreme thickness ; for, were it so, thirty times two bushels would be the average yield, 

 viz., sixty bushels per acre. If our agricultural friends will take the trouble to plant or 

 thin small plots of their wheat to about six inches by twelve apart, or about eighteen plants 

 to the square yard, (the distance we believe proper for obtaining the fullest crops,) their 

 expectations will be fully realized. As the season is now too far advanced to prove the cor- 

 rectness of this statement on wheat crops, we do trust that some unprejudiced farmers will 

 take the trouble to plant, transplant, or thin singly about a rod at least of their barley or 

 oat crops, in the middle of their fields, when it has been up about a fortnight, and after- 

 wards keep it clean by hoeing it deeply with a hack hoe ; then all their doubt of the reason- 

 ableness of this expostulation will be removed. Hardy $ Son, Seed-Growers, Maiden, 

 England. 



Cost of Raising Wheat, Corn, &c, 



MR. W. H. JOHNSON, of Geneva, New York, publishes in the Journal of the New York 

 State Agricultural Society a detailed farm account, from which we gather the following inte- 

 resting items respecting the cost of different crops the last season. The farm of Mr. J. con- 

 tains 80 acres of tillable land, divided into nine lots, numbered from one upwards, and accu- 

 rate account kept with each. The soil is a dry loam, with a clay subsoil, pretty uniform 

 throughout the farm. Each crop is charged with the interest on the value of the land pro- 

 ducing it, and with all the labor and material used in its production. Of wheat, six acres 

 were sown, the whole expense was $122.40 ; the product was 126 bushels, or 21 bushels per 

 acre ; this makes its cost per bushel a trifle over 97 cents. But deducting the value of the 

 straw, estimated at $18, we make the cost of the wheat but 83 cents per bushel. It was sold 

 at $1.81, leaving a fair margin for profit at either figure. But at the price of wheat for 

 many years past, the profit would have been little or nothing. 



Eight acres of barley cost $102.20, and produced 284 bushels, or 35 bushels per acre. It 

 cost nearly 37 cents, and sold for $1.00 per bushel. This produced a greater per cent, of 

 profit than the wheat, as we believe it generally has for a series of years. 



Ten acres of corn on clover sod cost $153.26. The product was 410 bushels of corn and 

 $60 worth of corn-stalks. Mr. Johnson states the cost of raising the corn at 37 cents per 

 bushel ; but if we deduct the value of the stalks from the whole expense, it makes the cost 

 of the corn but 22| cents per bushel. 



Ten cows are kept upon the farm, yielding an average of 210 pounds of butter each. Mr. 

 J. estimates the produce of each cow worth about $54, and the cost of keeping $26.85. It 

 cost 12 cents per pound to make butter on Elm wood Farm, and we think it cannot be sold 

 for less anywhere with much profit. His pork, killed at 9J months old, fed on milk and fat- 



