355 



always blew steadily, a sower could make calculations how far 

 the grain would be drifted, and could thus sow it tolerably even. 

 But as the wind blows in sudden gusts, a sower may calculate 

 how far to cast his handfuls, and may cast a number of them 

 with all desirable precision, and in an instant a gust of wind 

 would drift two or three handfuls in one place, leaving a space 

 without a dozen kernels of grain on it. A sower can sow any 

 kind of grain with the wind, far better than he can when he casts 

 towards the wind, whether he travels with the wind blowing in 

 his face or against one side. If grain must be sowed when the 

 wind blows, I always endeavor to manage so as to sow with the 

 wind, and never against it. One way is, to have all the grain on 

 the windward side of the field and sow towards the leeward side, 

 returning with empty vessel. Another way is, if the wind blows 

 from the south, commence on the south side, and if the wind is 

 north commence on the north side, and cast the grain all to the 

 south. In travelling to the east on the north side, cast the grain 

 with the left hand, and when going to the west, cast it with the 

 right hand. (See Par. 498.) Let a sower do the best he can, if 

 the wind blows very hard the grain will be very uneven. 



MANNER OF GAUGING THE HANDFULS. 



505. If it is at all difficult for the tyro to gauge his handfuls 

 when he grasps a large or small quantity with all his fingers, he 

 must try several expedients. Sometimes he must close the little 

 finger only when taking a handful, and sometimes close both the 

 second and third fingers also. Sometimes, in sowing buckwheat, 

 or flax-seed, or any kind of seed, where but a small quantity to 

 the acre is needed, some sowers hold a round stone with their 

 third and fourth fingers. Some sowers grasp a large handful, and 

 cast a small portion of it at every step, casting both ways, as the 

 arm moves back and forth. But I could never recommend this 

 mode of gauging the handfuls, because twice or thrice as much is 

 apt to be cast at once as there should be ; and sometimes as the 

 sower empties his hand there will not be in it enough for half a 

 cast. In gauging the handfuls when 



