238 



CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



note here, however, that the opinion of the most advanced 

 authorities is the same as in relation to the wheat and 

 barley crop, namely, that thick sowing is not so good as 

 thin sowing. In Scotland, from 3j to 6 bushels per acre 

 is a usual quantity ; in England, from 2 to 5. As a rule, 

 thick sowing is carried out in Scotland on the ground that 

 it is required, from the habit of the plant not to tiller out 

 so well as the wheat or the barley crop. Mr. Haxton looks 

 upon this thick sowing system as a decided error; and 

 states that " the moistness of the climate has greatly 

 favoured the practice, and counteracted its bad effects, by 

 keeping these thickly sown crops in a healthy growing 

 state ; but in a drier climate, the same error would occa- 

 sion much more mischief, inasmuch as the thicker a crop 

 is sown, the more does it ultimately suffer from long-con- 

 tinued drought. Three bushels of early and small-seeded 

 oats are quite sufficient to sow an imperial acre with, and 

 4 bushels of the coarser-grained oats." Mr. Bowie has in- 

 stituted some experiments which tend to show the advan- 

 tage of thin sowing. These experiments were carried out 

 in a soil " rather poor than in good condition." The re- 

 sults are therefore all the more suggestive, inasmuch as 

 thick seeding is generally considered applicable to such 

 soils ; thin seeding being considered only applicable to rich 

 soils. The following is a tabular statement of results : 



36. On this, as on other points, it is not possible to lay 

 down a rule applicable to all districts and localities, which 

 must ever be decided by the peculiar circumstances at- 

 tendant upon each kind of practice ; at the same time it 



