QUANTITY OF SEED 223 



the more seed may be sown ; as the fertihty or the 

 water content diminishes, the amount of seed should 

 Ukewise be diminished. Under (hy-farm conditions 

 the fertihty 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 proporti(jnal 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 iDetter 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 cnjp is rendered helpless in 

 attempts to adapt itself to surrouncUng conditions. 



