MODES OF SOWING THE WHEAT. 53 



both as regarded quantity and quality, the dibbled wheat 

 was superior to the broadcasted ; the ears of the wheat were 

 " indisputably larger, the grain of greater bulk, and speci- 

 fically heavier, while the berry of the corn was more equal 

 throughout, few small grains being mixed with it. The 

 average quantity of seed then used being three pecks per 

 acre, the cost of dibbling it being 6s. per acre, and the 

 average increase of produce, as compared with broadcasting, 

 being two bushels per acre. In one well-authenticated 

 case the increase was eight bushels per acre, and in price 

 Cd. a bushel better. The following description of the 

 method adopted in the practice of the period we have al- 

 ready alluded to, will be useful at the present time, when 

 the dibbling system is on the increase. The wheat is 

 generally planted upon a clover ley, and, if it be very light, 

 it should be ploughed a week or ten days before -the dib- 

 bling is commenced. In this light land a fall of rain will 

 not be disadvantageous, as the soil will be so far solidified 

 as to enable the holes to be made easily, and to be main- 

 tained perfectly open till the seed is dropped. Where the 

 land is heavy, the ploughing should be done only a day or 

 two before the dibbling, and in this soil it is absolutely im- 

 perative that the sowing should be done early in the season, 

 as it is impossible to dibble properly in heavy land in wet 

 weather, the dibble holes simply becoming a series of little 

 wells, in the bottom of which the water collects and rots 

 the grain. The land being ploughed, a man should follow 

 the plough with a spade, and break down or level the fur- 

 row where this may have been leffc uneven by the plough ; 

 then a roller is to be passed over the surface. The dibbling 

 then commences, which is carried out either by women or 

 by men. The dibble is made of iron, 2 feet 9 inches in 

 length, with a wood handle ; the lower part of the dibble 

 is made of a conical form, and calculated to make, when 

 forced into the soil up to its neck, a hole 2 inches deep. 

 The dibbler walks backward, and after forcing the dibble 

 into the soil, before drawing it out, or rather while in the 

 act of drawing it out, turns it partly round ; this consoli- 



