as a means of Increasinr/ the Crop. 
379 
of <a few acres, tlie best apportionment of seed to time will 
generally be as follows, tlie grain being dibbled singly in holes 
not exceeding 1^ inches deep at the distance — 
liotween 
the Knws — 
In 
the Rows — 
Quantity of Seed. 
In August, or eartij in September 
Towards end of montli 
of 9 inches 
I :; 
\ :; 
of 9 iiiches 
4 
3 ! 1 
= 1 bush, on 6 acres 
= 1 , , on 4 , , 
= 1 , , on 2f , , 
= 1 , . on 2 . , 
= U ,, on 2 ,, 
But in carrying out this system upon a large scale we require 
some way of getting in the seed more expeditiously than can be 
done by dibbling. 
My principal object in dibbling is to insure perfect singleness 
and regularity of plant, with uniformity of depth. The two 
latter may be attained by the drill, as may the former also by 
adopting the following plan. The seed-cups ordinarily used in 
drilling wheat are so large that they deliver hunches of grains 
consisting of six or seven, which fall together within a very 
small area, from which a less produce will be obtained than if it 
had been occupied by a single grain. The additional grains are 
thus not only wasted, but they are positively injurious. By using 
seed-cups, however, which are only sufficiently large to contain 
one grain at a time, a stream of single c/rains is delivered, and 
the desired object, viz., plants from single grains, at once attained. 
The intervals in the rows will not be uniform, but they may be 
afterwards equalized by the use of the hoe, if it be thought neces- 
sary. These intervals will of course depend upon the velocity 
with which the seed-barrel revolves, which can be regulated at 
pleasure by a proper arrangement of the cog-wheels which drive 
it ; but it will be necessary to fix upon the nave of the travelling- 
wheel of the drill itself a larger cog-wheel than is in common 
use. I have had these nave-wheels made to shift with facility, 
so that the drill may be easily rendered again available for 
general purposes. By drilling thus we obtain the advantage of 
the " broadcast " system also — equal distribution — as we can have 
the rows as close together, and the grains as thin, in the row as 
we please. The crop should be hoed, as soon as practicable, 
with Garrett's horse-hoe. If the seed has been sown early, this 
should be done in the autumn, as it causes the plants to tiller and 
occupy the whole ground before the winter sets in. 
I do not know that I can better conclude this Essav than by 
giving a summary of the advantages which attend very early 
planting, apart from any increase to be anticipated in the crop. 
1st. The Extension of the Seed-time. — By commencing in the 
VOI^, XXII. 2 D 
