THE WHEAT CROP. 31 



under these favourable conditions would amount to rather 

 more than three times that of drilling, as the sum allowed 

 for wear and tear of machine would be considerably 

 increased. 



The relative advantages and disadvantages of these 

 three methods seem to be as follows : 



Broadcasting enables the farmer to get his seed in at a 

 quicker rate, and at a less cost than by the use of ma- 

 chines ; while, at the same time, in adverse seasons, he is 

 less dependent upon the weather at seed-time ; and, if his 

 land is kept well cleaned in his fallow crops, he may not 

 suffer much by leaving his crop beyond the reach of the 

 hoe during its period of growth. On the other hand, if 

 his land be foul at sowing, it necessarily becomes worse by 

 harvest time, and the crop must have been injured, as 

 every weed grown on the surface has abstracted from the 

 soil a certain amount of food, which otherwise would have 

 gone to increase the crop under cultivation. This condi- 

 tion of things soon tells its own tale on the debtor side of 

 the farm ledger, while another item to be entered there 

 is the extra quantity of seed required to be sown. This 

 generally amounts to considerably more than the entire 

 cost of machine sowing. 



Drilling offers the great advantage to the farmer of 

 being able to regulate the exact quantity of seed to be 

 sown to sow it equally all over the field to deposit 

 it at a given regular depth in the soil to insure its being 

 properly covered. A saving of seed to the extent of one- 

 third to one-half as compared with broadcasting is effected, 

 and by being deposited in the ground in straight parallel 

 lines, great facilities are afforded for keeping the surface 

 free from weeds, either by hoeing or hand-pulling. 1 The 

 produce also per acre is, under equal conditions of soil, 



1 The experiments on the relative produce of broadcasting and drilling 

 wheat, by Mr. Vernon Harcourt, recorded in the Agricultural Gazette for 1848, 



