OF THE SOWING OF SEED. 351 



number of plants to be left on a given surface ; and the 

 more equable admission and circulation of air among the 

 plants in the drilled, than in the broad-cast mode of cul- 

 ture, gives the former a decided preference. 



That potatoes should be in drills, but should not be dis- 

 turbed by the plough after being considerably advanced. 



That drilling carrots is advisable, more especially where 

 there is not a great depth of soil. 



That beans should be drilled, not only on light and 

 loamy soils, but also on harsh, strong, and stubborn clays, 

 otherwise they would in a manner be excluded from a soil, 

 which cannot be profitably cultivated without them. 



That peas ought to be drilled in dry soils and climates, 

 more especially where the object is to clean the land ; and 

 though in clays, if the land is clean, sowing broad-cast is 

 adopted by some, yet even there drilling is preferable. 



That autumn or winter-sown wheat may be cultivated 

 broad-cast, but that spring-sown crops, whether wheat, 

 barley, or oats, are most likely to be productive upon light 

 soils, where annual weeds abound, when cultivated in 

 drills.* 



2. In a precarious climate, it is necessary, not only to 

 cultivate early sorts of grain, but to sow early, in order to 

 secure, if possible, an early harvest. This is particularly 

 the case with oats upon strong and wet soils. They should 

 be sown, therefore, as soon as the season answers, and the 

 land is in good order to receive the seed, at least any time 

 after the first of March. It is of advantage to sow even 

 light soils early, that the crop may get forward, before 

 the drought sets in. 



* It may be proper at the same time to observe, that in several dis- 

 tricts in England, particularly in some parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, they 

 carry their ideas in favour of the drilling system, in so far as regards 

 crops of grain, still farther. 



