410 



SOW 



sow 



it will be the more liable to be de- 

 stroyed by the frost of winter. 

 Neither should it be applied late in 

 the spring ; because in case of a 

 drought soon after, it will be apt to 

 burn too much. 



Mr. Ellis recommends sowing 

 soot over turnips, as soon as they 

 are up. This will tend to prevent 

 flies from attacking them. But 

 that it may have have this effect, it 

 should be finely pulverised ; sown 

 early in a morning before the dew 

 is otf ; and in a moderate quantity, 

 lest its heat should injure the ten- 

 der plants, to which it will adhere 

 and repel the insects. Sifting is 

 the best way of applying it. See 

 Mania-e. 



SOWING, committing seeds to 

 the earth, for the purpose of ob- 

 taining a crop. 



There are three ways of seeding 

 the ground: — 1. In hills as it is 

 called, or in squares: 2. In drills, 

 or continued rows : And 3. In the 

 broadcast method, or at random 

 with a cast of the hand ; which last 

 method is always termed sowing. 

 ^J he first requires the least quan- 

 tity of seed, the last the greatest. 

 But the crops will not be in pro- 

 portion to the different quantities 

 of seed. 



With regard to sowing, several 

 things ought to be attended to ; the 

 quality or goodness of the seeds ; 

 the time of sowing them ; the depth 

 that is best for them ; and the 

 quantity, or proportion of seed to 

 the ground. 



The quality of seed should be 

 ascertained, in order to determine 

 the quantity that is proper to be 

 sown ; for if one tenth part of the 



seeds, for instance, should be des- 

 titute of a vegetative power, a 

 tenth part more of such seeds 

 should be sown than the usual 

 quantity, supposing the seeds to be 

 in perfection. 



In order to determine the good- 

 ness of the seed to be sown, you 

 should previously take fifty grains 

 at random from the parcel; sow 

 them in good mould, at a proper 

 depth, and carefully observe how 

 great a proportion fail of coming 

 up. They may be sown in a pot, 

 and kept in a warm part of the 

 house, or in a hot-bed, that the 

 farmer may have timely notice of 

 the quality of his seeds, when it is 

 too early in the spring to do it in 

 the open ground. Many have 

 missed of a crop, by not taking this 

 precaution. When seeds are sus- 

 pected of being too old to vegetate, 

 this previous trial should by no 

 means be neglected. 



But if we wish to have seeds in 

 the best condition for sowing, they 

 should be well ripened on their 

 plants before they are gathered in ; 

 afterwards they should be kept 

 perfectly dry, that they may not 

 contract the least mouldiness ; and 

 never be secluded from the air. 



Mr. Miller found that air was 

 absolutely necessary to maintain 

 the principle of vegetation in seeds. 

 Having saved a parcel of fresh 

 seeds of several kinds, he took 

 some of each, and sealed them up in 

 glass phials ; the other parts of the 

 same seeds he put into bags, and 

 hung them up in a dry place, in a 

 free air. After a year had passed, 

 he took some of the seeds from 

 each phial, and each bag, and sow- 



