QUANTITY OF SEED ‘223 
the more seed may be sown; as the fertility or the 
water content diminishes, the amount of seed should 
likewise be diminished. Under dry-farm conditions 
the fertility is good, but the moisture is low. As a 
general principle, therefore, light seeding should be 
practiced on dry-farms, though it should be sufficient 
to yield a crop that will shade the ground well. If 
the sowing is done early, in fall or spring, less seed 
may be used than if the sowing is late, because the 
early sowing gives a better chance for root develop- 
ment, which results, ordinarily, in more vigorous 
plants that consume more moisture than the smaller 
and weaker plants of later sowing. If the winters 
are mild and well covered with snow, less seed may 
be used than in districts where severe or open winters 
cause a certain amount of winter-killing. On a good 
seed-bed of fallowed soil less seed may be used than 
where the soil has not been carefully tilled and is 
somewhat rough and lumpy and unfavorable for 
complete germination. The yield of any crop is not 
directly proportional to the amount sown, unless all 
factors contributing to germination are alike. In 
the case of wheat and other grains, thin seeding also 
gives a plant a better chance for stooling, which is 
Nature’s method of adapting the plant to the pre- 
vailing moisture and fertility conditions. When 
plants are crowded, stooling cannot occur to any 
marked degree, and the crop is rendered helpless in 
attempts to adapt itself to surrounding conditions. 
