SEED 247 



certain that all the seeds are distributed at 

 such a depth as to secure the best conditions 

 of germination and growth. Whereas 3-4 

 bushels of wheat per acre are necessary 

 where the seed is broadcast, it seldom 

 happens that more than 2-2 bushels are used 

 under a system of drilling. It is found that 

 cereal crops which have been drilled are less 

 liable, as the harvest approaches, to be laid 

 by heavy rain or strong wind, than is the case 

 with broadcast crops. This is probably 

 due to the fact that where the plants stand 

 in regular rows the sun is better able to get 

 at the lower parts of the stems, and, as 

 sunlight encourages lignification, such straw 

 is stronger and therefore less liable to be 

 beaten down by rain or wind. This considera- 

 tion has greatest importance in the case of 

 a variety of cereal which produces a large 

 bulk of straw, or which produces straw that 

 is known to be feeble. It is also evident 

 that the matter is of special importance in 

 the case of rich land, where " lodging " is 

 most liable to occur. 



While birds may pick up a certain pro- 

 portion of broadcast seed which is left 

 exposed on the surface of the ground, it 

 is probable that, on the whole, birds, and 

 especially rooks, do greater damage to drilled 



