W2 Report on the Competition for Seed- Wheat, 1883. 
of the original sample w as set aside for comparison with the 
products of the following harvest. 
The samples were sent to the growers earlv in November, 
1882. At Crawlej Mill thej were sown on the l-ith of 
November, at Bulbridge on the 22nd of the same month, and at 
Woodhorn Manor on the 27th of November, while Mr. Randell 
did not sow his portion at Chadbury till the 27th of February, 
1883. The particulars of the weight sent as reported bv the 
growers, the quantity sown, the extent of the land on which 
each variety was grown, and the date of the sowing, are given 
in Table I. on the opposite page. 
The differences in the quantity of seed employed by the 
growers deserves to be noticed, and is most apparent in the 
columns that specify the weight and the quantity per acre. 
The largest quantity was used by Mr. Rawlence. His soil 
forms onlv a thin covering on the surface of chalk, which, being 
a porous rock, acts as a natural drain. It is consequentlv 
necessary, as I pointed out on a former occasion, that the cereal 
crops should be thickly sown, as Mr. Rawlence always does in 
order to cover his soil with a thick crop of green, and so 
prevent the evaporation of the moisture from the soil. The 
difference between the practice of Mr. Rawlence in Wiltshire 
and Mr. Maiden in Bedford, in the quantity of seed employed, 
is so great, that Mr. Maiden puts on three acres what Mr. Raw- 
lence found necessary for two. Mr. Maiden, that is to say, 
saved a bushel and a half on every two acres, as compared with 
!Mr. Rawlence — a saving of not a little importance in economic 
farming. 
Mr. Randell did not sow till the spring. The samples were 
received too late to be planted in October, and the state of the 
weather after that month rendered wheat sowing impossible 
until the end of February. The 27th of February was the first 
dav that the land would bear the horses, and the wheat was then 
sown, the remainder of the field being planted at the same time 
with " Essex rough chaff. ' The land is a strong loam upon 
clay, in good condition, having grown in 1882 vetches eaten off 
by sheep with oilcake, followed by cauliflower, the heads of 
which were cut and carried off, and the leaves were eaten by 
sheep again getting oilcake. The field was uniform in quality 
and condition, and the three crops were treated preciseW alike. 
All the crops stood up well, and were free from mildew. At 
harvest the crop of the whole field was as good as any of the 
autumn-sown wheat. So that, in Mr. Randell's opinion, the 
■experiment was not in the least modified by the spring sowing. 
Mr. Rawlence sowed his samples on the 22nd of November, 
and the remainder of the field was sown at the same time with 
