48 How THE FARM PAYS. 



seeds after sowing, especially when the soil is dry, or. likely to be- 

 come so. I know of no operation of more importance in either the 

 farm or garden, and I trust that what I am about to say will be read 

 and remembered by every one not yet aware of the vast importance 

 of the practice. I say " vast importance," for the loss to the agricul- 

 tural and horticultural community, from the habit of loosely sowing 

 seeds or planting plants in hot and dry soils, is of a magnitude which 

 few will believe, until they have witnessed it; and it is a loss all the 

 more to be regretted, when we know that by "firming" the soil 

 around the seed or plant, there is, in most cases, a certain pre- 

 ventive. 



Particularly in the sowing of seeds, I consider the matter of such 

 vast importance, that it cannot be too often or too strongly told; for 

 the loss to the agricultural and horticultural community, by the 

 neglect of the simple operation of firming the soil around the seed, 

 must amount to many millions annually. For the mischief done is 

 not confined only to the less important garden operations, but even 

 corn, cotton, wheat, turnips and other important crops of the farm, 

 often fail, in hot and dry soils, by being sown without being firmed 

 sufficiently to prevent the dry air shriveling or drying the seeds. Of 

 course, the use of the feet is impracticable in firming seeds on the 

 farm, but a heavy roller, applied after sowing, is an absolute necessity 

 under certain conditions of the soil, to ensure perfect germination. 

 From the middle of April to nearly the end of May of this year, in 

 many sections of the country, there was little or no rain. Such 

 was particularly the case in the vicinity of New York City, where we 

 have hundreds of market gardeners, who cultivate thousands of acres 

 of cabbage, cauliflower and celery, but the ' ' dry spring " has played 

 sad havoc with their seed-beds. Celery is not one-fourth of a crop, and 

 cabbage and cauliflower hardly half, and this failure is due to no 

 other cause than that they persist in sowing their seeds without even 

 taking the precaution to firm the soil by rolling. 



We sow annually about four acres of celery, cabbage and cauli- 

 flower plants, which produce probably five millions in number, and 

 which we never fail to sell mostly in our immediate neighborhood, to 

 the market gardeners, who have, many of them, even better facilities 

 than we have for raising these plants, if they would only do as we do, 

 firm the seed after sowing, which is done thus: 



After plowing, harrowing and leveling the land smoothly, lines are 

 drawn by the " marker," which makes a furrow about two inches deep 

 and a foot apart; after the man who sows the seed follows another, 

 who, with the ball of the right foot, presses down his full weight on 

 every inch of soil in the drill where the seed has been sown; the rows 



