FIRMING THE SOIL. 49 



are then lightly leveled longitudinally with the rake, a light roller is 

 passed over them, and the operation is done. 



By this method our crop has never once failed, and what is true of 

 celery and cabbage seed is nearly true of all other seeds requiring to 

 be sown during the late spring or summer months. 



On July 2d of 1874, as an experiment, I sowed twelve rows of 

 sweet corn and twelve rows of beets, treading in, after sowing, every 

 alternate row of each. In both cases, those trod in came up in four 

 days, while those unfirmed remained twelve days before starting, and 

 would not then have germinated had not rain fallen, for the soil was 

 dry as dust when the seed was sown. 



The result was, that the seeds that had been trodden in grew freely 

 from the start, and matured their crops to a marketable condition by 

 fall; while the rows unfirmed did not mature, as they were not only 

 eight days later in germinating, but the plants were also, to some 

 extent, enfeebled by being partially dried in the loose, dry soil. 



This experiment was a most useful one, for it proved that a corn 

 crop, sown in the vicinity of New York as late as July 2d, could be 

 made to produce "roasting ears" in October, when they never fail to 

 sell freely at high rates, but the crop would not mature unless the seed 

 germinated at once, and which would never be certain at that dry and 

 hot season, unless by this method. 



The same season, in August, I treated seeds of turnips and spinach 

 in the same way. Those trod in germinated at once and made an ex- 

 cellent crop, while those unfirmed germinated feebly, and were 

 eventually nearly all burned out by a continuance of dry, hot air 

 penetrating through the loose soil to the tender rootlets. 



I beg to caution the inexperienced, however, by no means to tread or 

 roll in seed if the ground is not dry. The soil may often be in a suit- 

 able condition to sow, and yet may be too damp to be trodden upon 

 or rolled. In such cases these operations may not be necessary at all, 

 for if rainy weather ensue, the seeds will germinate of course ; but if 

 there is any likelihood of a continued drought, the treading or rolling 

 may be done a week or more after the seed has been sown, if there is 

 any reason to believe that it may suffer from the dry, hot air. Another 

 very important advantage gained by treading in the seed is, that when 

 we have crops of beets, celery, turnips, spinach, or anything else that 

 is sown in rows, the seeds to form the crop come up at once; while 

 the seeds of the weeds, that are just as liable to perish by the heat as 

 are those of the crop, are retarded. Such of the weed seeds as He in 

 the space between the rows when the soil is loose, will not germinate 

 as quickly as those of the crop sown; and hence we can cultivate 

 between the rows before the weeds germinate at all. 



