176 FIELD VKOPt< 



delayed until almost May 1. In the Dakotas, Minnesota, 

 Wisconsin, and other states along the northern border, the 

 usual seeding season is the latter half of April, though it 

 may extend well into May or be finished by April 20. Fall- 



Figure 70. — Sowir>or onts T>-ith a broadcast seeder on corn land without previoub 

 preparation. A careless method of farming 



sown oats are sown in September in North Carolina, Ten- 

 nessee, and Arkansas, and in October farther south. 



214. The rate of seeding varies in different sections as 

 well as on different soils and with different varieties. The 

 usual rate is from 2 to 3 bushels to the acre, though in some 

 sections it is considerably greater, while in the ''dry-farming" 

 region of the \7est, from 1 t6 1^ bushels is the usual rate. 

 In England and Scotland, 6 to 7 bushels to the acre is some- 

 times sown; such hea\^ seeding is almost never practiced 

 in this country. Numerous experiments in the upper INlis- 

 sissippi Valley show that there is little difference in the yield 

 either of grain or straw when from 2 to 3 bushels is sown, 

 but that the yield of straw increases while that of grain de- 

 creases at rates of less than 2 bushels. Within reasonable 

 limits, the number of culms produced from thin seeding will 

 be as great as from thick seeding, as thin seeding induces 



