HOW TO GROW GOOD CORN. 209 



by circumstances. Where there is so much to do, 

 you cannot always get everything done at the right 

 season, even if the soil were favourable for so doing ; 

 and the period at which you get your land ready for 

 the seed, and the time of sowing it, makes a wide 

 difference. But there is another point of even — if 

 possible— greater importance; namely, the quality of 

 the seed. Now, on our farm we always ascertain the 

 germinating power of every sample of seed before 

 sowing ; and from this, as well as from the results of 

 numerous experiments on this subject, we have ar- 

 rived at the conclusion, that there are immense 

 differences in this respect, which cannot possibly 

 be made out at sight, but can only be ascertained 

 experimentally. To make this matter clear, we 

 append a table (2) of the results of experiments on 

 this point upon no less than forty-two samples, which 

 were tried in 1863. 



Now, these experiments showed a want of germi- 

 nating power, in some of the samples, of more than 

 50 per cent., and in the 42 samples an average of 

 24-5 per cent. ; from which it will be seen that some- 

 times the thick sower is not the thick seeder, and his 

 failure of a crop is not always due to slugs and wire- 

 worms. 



These experiments were published in the Agricul- 

 tural Gazette^ and they evoked some remarks from a 

 learned divine, so unfair and uncandid, as only to be 

 excused by the nature of his professional education 

 and modes of thought. Now, when this gentleman 

 affected to believe that these things could not be so, 

 and that with him every seed germinated, we could 

 only conclude that the days of miracles had not quite 



