174 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



wheat would be much more liable to be frozen out than if the 

 land was left in ridges by the drill. 



I am in favor of early sowing, and prefer the first half of 

 September if the weather is suitable. It is wise to have the 

 land in order the first of September, and then take advantage of 

 the first favorable weather. I find it much better to seed after 

 a rain than before, as a heavy rain after seeding packs the 

 ground and the wheat does not make a thrifty start. If one has 

 a large crop to sow he can not wait, but must take his chance ; 

 but with only two or three days', work to do, advantage can be 

 taken of weather and the crop put in at the best time. I have 

 grown excellent crops of wheat sown as late as the 10th of 

 October. The time to sow will depend much on the season as 

 well as latitude. I would not usually sow wheat while the 

 weather is very warm, as there is more danger of injury from 

 insects ; nor do I like to sow when the ground is too dry to give 

 the wheat a prompt and uniform start. The best time to sow 

 wheat is one of those questions which can not be definitely set- 

 tled, but on which the farmer must use his own judgment. In 

 seasons or localities when the fly works on the crop, early seed- 

 ing will sometimes fail entirely, while wheat sown a month or even 

 six weeks later will make a good crop. In very dry seasons it 

 is usually wiser to wait for rain and sow later than to run the 

 risk of putting the seed in dry soil. 



Thick or Thin Seeding is a matter in which I havo 

 felt a deep interest and have experimented on to some extent. 

 My experiments have all been with Fultz wheat (which is a 

 small-grained variety), and have led me to believe that three 

 pecks of seed will produce all the wheat the land is capable of 

 bearing. In 1877 I sowed two adjoining acres in wheat, using a 

 half bushel of seed on one acre and a bushel on the other. 

 There was a perceptible difference in the appearance of the two 

 plots during the first two or three weeks, but less as the wheat 

 bogan to stool, and in the spring I could see no difference. 

 At harvest there were fifty- two shocks on one acre, and 

 fifty-three on the other, and the product was seventy bushels 

 from the two acres. In 1878 I sowed six acres with three 



