82 THE ROMANCE OF EVERIFARM 



into the wagon by Oldtimer, who drove out to the 

 field which had been properly prepared for seeding, 

 including an application of five hundred pounds of 

 steamed bone meal — phosphate fertilizer — to the 

 acre. 



Happy Hank, with his four big horses hitched to 

 the twelve-foot drill, was waiting just inside the 

 gate, and our kernel of wheat soon found himself, 

 with his other companions, dropping down a narrow 

 passageway of the driQ into the damp soil of the 

 big farm, where everything became suddenly quiet. 



Withm a few days the moisture of the soil pene- 

 trated to the embryo of the kernel, and as the 

 plumule started upward to the light, so did the 

 small rootlets start downward, further into the soil, 

 to gather plant food to build the great wheat crop 

 that was to be. Our kernel of spring wheat was 

 planted on St. Valentine's Day in February, for 

 Farmer Good had found after many years of ex- 

 perimentation that early seeding produced much 

 greater yields than did late seeding, so by March 

 first the young plant was enjoying the beautiful 

 sunlight that was beginning to warm up the soil 

 and bring life to the world again. 



"Hey! Look where you're going. Quit kicking 

 dust in my eyes!" screamed the wheat plant as Mr. 



