THE GENESEE FARMER, 



309 



THICK OK, THIN SOWING? 



Fifteen years of experience are -vrorth something 

 or at all events ought to be of some value. Does 

 the quantity of wheat sown regulate the quantity 

 of corn to be produced ? Most decidedly not. As 

 a general ruld, the large quantity of seed sown pro- 

 duces the smallest result, because it implies a poor 

 or ill-cultivated soil, having no power to compel 

 the plant to tiller. It would be absurd to lay down 

 an arbitrary rule of quantity for all sorts and cli- 

 mates ; but we may take these general rules as a 

 safe guard : — 



That the quantity of seed must be diminished in 

 proportion as the natural or artificial fertility of 

 the soil is increased. 



That in such soil the sowing of too much seed 

 produces a rank and close vegetation, prematurely 

 developed, laid early, apt to be mildewed, and ruin- 

 ously unproductive in quality and quantity. 



The. extreme illustration of this is afforded by the 

 bunches grown from masses of seed dropped from 

 the drill, or accumulated by mice. 



That time is gained or early harvesting is pro- 

 moted by two causes — a highly manured, drained, 

 and fertile soil, or by a large quantity of seed. In 

 the latter case prematurity is attained at a sacrifice 

 of quantity. ■ If I w^ere asked whether I would 

 sow thick to produce an early harvest, or whether 

 I would sow thin and earlier, to produce the same 

 result, I would most decidedly prefer the latter 

 mode. 



Experience has taught many farmers that if they 

 will continue to sow the same quantity of seed as 

 they used to do when they farmed less highly, 

 they must sow later to avoid a prematurely laid 

 crop. 



If every farmer had tried (as I have done) for a 

 series of years, on a moderate space, the compara- 

 tive result of giving quantities sown at stated 

 periods, each man would have arrived at a suit- 

 able quantity adapted to his own climate and cir- 

 cumstances. 



Several of my Avheat fields this year are estima- 

 ted at six to seven quarters (48 to 56 bushels) per 

 acre. I need hardly say that the straw is like 

 Reeds, and abundant in quantity. This is from a 

 bushel of seed drilled per acre. 



I have said that high manuring renders a small 

 quantity of seed absolutely necessary. I ought to 

 add, that every weed should be extirpated, and 

 the whole of the soil placed at the sole use of the 

 growing crop. But liow stands the fact on the 

 majority of farms in this kingdom ? A fierce com- 

 petition goes on between the thickly-sown grain 

 crop and a powerful natural crop of hungry weeds, 

 the latter too often consuming that which ought to 

 have been the nutriment of the former, thereby 

 reducing it in quantity and quality, to the serious 

 Injurj' of the farmer. This is no highly-colored 

 picture. If I travel by the flying train in the 

 mouth of May, I can, even so, perceive this blot 

 upon English farming in every direction ; a pain- 

 ful reminder of agricultural neglect and miscalcu- 

 lation. 



How few know the use of Garrett's horse hoe ! 

 For fifteen years my wheat and other crops have 

 benefited bj this. The farm laborers know well 



the value of clean hoeing, and can predict the fail- 

 ure or success of the crop accordingly. 



Why a farmer should deem it necessary to hoe 

 his turnips, and not his corn, (wheat) is to me a 

 mystery. The same principal applies equally to 

 both. The amount abstracted annually from the 

 farmei"'s pockets by the growth of weeds is some- 

 thing enormous in the aggregate. 



The effect of extra manuring on the proportion 

 of seed was strikingly exemplified in a distant 

 wheat field of mine, sloping towards my b ^droom. 

 On one portion of that field, forming a square and 

 then an oblong, my sheep had been folded twelve 

 hours longer than on the rest of the field. In every 

 stage of the growth of the corn that extra folding 

 was shown as distinctly as if colored on a maj). 

 The crop was thicker and more early laid, and more 

 frothy at harvest. Strictly speaking, three pecks, 

 instead of one bushel, of seed would have been the 

 proper quantity for that portion. I am still of 

 opinion that land can never be too rich for wheat, 

 provided the quantity sown is adapted to the cir- 

 cumstances of the field. 



I never found any farmer who complained of my 

 not having straw enough ; on the contrary, thick 

 sowers have admitted that the quantity was much 

 larger than their own. 



On light chalky soil, or limestone rock, especi- 

 ally at high elevations, as in Gloucestershire, I have 

 fciown thick and early sowing practised, because 

 by covering the ground early it protected the roots 

 from frost. We know quite well that, whilst the 

 leaf of wheat suffers little from frost, the plant, 

 when root frozen, is destroyed. Under such cir- 

 cumstances it might be advantageous to thin out 

 the wheat by hoeing in the spring. In light loose 

 sands the wheat root is apt to suffer unless sown 

 early. — J. J. MecM^ Tipton Hall., Essex., Eng. 



We give the above as the opinions of one who 

 has had great experience in thin seeding, and who 

 was one of its earliest advocates. We still think, 

 however, that as general rule, farmers in this coun- 

 try, are inclined to sow too thin rather than too 

 thick. Our reasons for this opinion need not be 

 repeated at this time. — [Eds. 



Horses Stiffened and IIoof-Botjnd. — A horse 

 that is driven on a hard road is liable to get stiff- 

 ened. I have seen valuable horses driven on our 

 plank roads a few days get quite lame. I reasoned 

 to myself of the cause, and produced a remedy 

 which proved effectual. I have since tried it on 

 foundered or hoof-bound horses, and with good 

 results. I made a solution of salt and water, and 

 applied it three times a day, by washing the legs 

 and pouring upon the bottom of his feet and hold- 

 ing them up a few minutes to let it strike in, and 

 saw the wonderful effects in a few days. I account 

 for it in this way : Salt will extract moisture from 

 the atmosphere, which keeps the feet moist all the 

 while, it acts nearly like melted grease upon the 

 foot. The hoof becomes tough but yet pliable. 

 Like a chunk of wood saturated with salt or brine, 

 it is tough yet moist ; and so with a horse's foot. 

 And here let me add, the habit of rasping the 

 cracked hoof to toughen it is all folly. Apply 

 your brine and you will effect a cure. Try it and 

 blame me if it does not. — Ohio Cultivator. 



