358 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



square feet is as nearly one sixtieth of an acre as we care to 

 measure. Measure off five such plots. On the first sow one Ib. 

 of good wheat, and label it as sown at the rate of one bushel per 

 acre. On the second sow two Ibs., or one Ib. and a half. On 

 the third sow two, or two and a half Ibs. On the fourth sow 

 three, or three and a half Ibs. On the fifth sow four Ibs. Sow 

 them all very evenly, having a space of a foot wide between 

 each plot, and cover the seed with a hand-rake. At harvest, 

 cut and weigh each plot separately, and note the result. Notice 

 particularly the size of the kernels, and then make an estimate 

 of how many kernels in a pound, &c., and the young farmer will 

 have in his possession some valuable, tangible data, which will 

 aid him in determining this point with more correctness than 

 the opinion of all the best farmers in his vicinity. 



510. In determining how many Ibs. of oats to sow per acre, 

 when the kernels are of a given size, and the soil of a given qual 

 ity, as thirty-two Ibs. constitute a statute bushel in the Empire 

 State, measure off four or five plots, each plot containing one 

 thirty-second part of an acre, which is 1,361 square feet, not 

 feet square, equal to a plot forty -five feet and three inches long 

 and thirty feet wide. One pound of oats evenly sowed on such a 

 plot will be at the rate of one bushel per acre. Two Ibs., at the 

 rate of two bushels per acre. Two and a half Ibs., at the rate of 

 two and a half bushels per acre. Sow five plots in this manner, 

 and note the result, as in Par. 509. 



511. Forty-eight Ibs. make a statute bushel of barley; and the 

 size of the kernels varies as much as almost any other cereal grain. 

 If the kernels are very large, it will be necessary to sow more 

 pounds per acre than it would if they were only half as large. 

 But in order to test the matter as directed in 509 and 510, 

 43,560 square feet in an acre divided by 48, the number of Ibs. 

 in a bushel, gives 907^ square feet, which is equal to a plot of 

 ground about 30 J feet long and 30 feet wide. One Ib. of barley 

 sowed on this plot will be at the rate of one bushel per acre ; two 

 Ibs., two bushels, &c. 



512. On my soil I have been accustomed to sow not more than 



