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Rundles: Studies in Rice 
375 
dues should be converted into manure and replaced on the soil. 
Manure should be thinly applied before sowing. 
AMOUNT OF SEED TO SOW 
The factors governing this question are practically the same 
as those controlling the optimum transplanting distance. 
The plant growth is not as great for the upland varieties of 
rice as for the lowland, as a result of a great difference in the 
physical conditions of the soil and the amount of moisture pres- 
ent. For this reason more seed may be sown to advantage on 
the upland. 
Experiments in the grain regions of the United States have 
shown that broadcasting is not as economical a practice as drill- 
ing the grain. The latter method requires the use of a machine 
which enables the farmer to govern the rate as well as the 
depth of sowing. Drilling requires less seed per hectare than 
broadcasting, and insures greater uniformity in stand, in growth, 
and in maturity of grain. 
Under the present methods of sowing rice in the Islands great 
loss usually occurs. The seed is sown on the freshly plowed 
land and is covered by a bamboo harrow or by the native plow. 
Some is left exposed to the attacks of birds, and some is buried 
too deeply to germinate or is very slow in germinating. For 
these reasons broadcasting requires more seed in order to make 
allowance for the loss. The extra cost of drilling is often more 
than balanced by the increased yields and the economical use 
of seed. 
There are small machines or drills on the market which can 
be worked with one animal ; there are also larger ones, the opera- 
tion of which requires two or three animals. 
When broadcasting is the practice, the seed is more econom- 
ically used when the bed is well prepared and leveled before sow- 
ing. Under these conditions the seed can be covered with the 
harrow. 
As a results of experiments conducted by the Experiment 
Station, Berkeley, California, a rate of from 1.5 to 1.8 cavanes 
per hectare is recommended as the most effective rate of seeding 
when the seed is drilled. That amount gave better yields than 
a greater or a less amount of seed. That station also recognizes 
the fact that the type of seed should govern the rate of sowing. 
The Bureau of Agriculture recommends the use of 1.5 cavanes 
per hectare when the seed is evenly scattered, but it asserts that 
drilling the seed instead of sowing it broadcast increases the 
return per hectare. 
