25 



sold combined with seed 

 sowers, so that the same 

 implement may be used 

 for either purpose. 



The Matthews' hand 

 Cultivator is a good il- 

 lustration of this class. 

 (See engraving.) 



In these machines the seed falls through holes in little 

 slides of tin, different slides being substituted as the seed to 

 be sown is larger or smaller, or the quantity to be planted is 

 greater or less. Farmers will often find it for their interest to 

 enlarge or diminish the size of these holes. The holes in the 

 tin of the Danvers sower, to give a liberal sowing of about 

 four and a half pounds to the acre, should be large enough 

 to drop ten to fourteen onion seed to each snap. By putting 

 the hand under and counting the seed which falls in a dozen 

 snappings of the machine, a reliable average can be ascer- 

 tained. As the size of onion seed often varies, no particular 

 size of hole can be relied upon : it must be tested for each 

 season. Another convenient test is to trundle the machine 

 over the barn floor, or a newspaper spread and secured in the 

 field, and obser\^e how thickly the seed fall. For a beginner 

 the first test is the better one. 



Of the sower which drops the seed in hills I will treat 

 presently under the head of "Onions with Carrots." 



PLANTING THE SEED. 



Having selected our seed sower and regulated it, the next 

 step is to plant the seed. It is exceedingly necessary that 

 the first row planted should be straight, as this becomes a 

 measure of straightness for all the others. A steady hand and 



