OHAPTEK VIII. 



SOWING GRAIN BY HAND. 



" Scatter ye seeds, and flowers will spring I 



Strew them at broadcast o'er hill and glen : 

 Sow in your garden, and time will bring 

 Bright flowers with seeds to scatter again." ANON. 



492. NOT every one is fit to sow grain broadcast, and not one 

 man in a score is able to scatter seed with his hands as evenly as 

 it should be, and no man can sow grain as evenly as a good 

 drill, or a good seed-sower. But in some instances a drill cannot 

 be used ; and sometimes a seed drill is not at hand ; and some 

 times scores of very good farmers have imbibed the erroneous 

 notion that, all things considered, it is better to sow broadcast and 

 harrow in the seed, than it is to put it in with a drill. Some 

 men may sow grain as long as they live, and they will throw it 

 in ridges or streaks. It is very important to know how to sow, 

 even if a drill is used for putting in most of the grain on a farm. 



493. There are two modes of sowing by hand broadcast ; one 

 is by ridges and furrows (see Par. 469), and the other is by stakes. 

 A person can sow much more correctly by furrows and ridges, 

 than he can by stakes, and can sow much faster, also, as it con 

 sumes much time in moving the stakes. 



494. A good-sized bag, with one corner of the bottom tied to 

 the mouth of it, hung over the shoulder, is about the most con 

 venient thing to sow out of. Have grain at each end of the field, 

 or if the field is not more than forty rods long, have the grain in 

 the middle of it. Now, measure off half an* acre, and calculate 

 about how much you desire to sow on an acre. Sow handfuls of 

 a given size while sowing the half acre, and if the proportion 



15* (351) 



