AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
9G 
producing from between 25 to 80 bushels of 
wheat per acre, I should sow two bushels of 
■seed—a little less perhaps if sown early, aud the 
soil was moist, warm, and in fine tilth. 
John Johnston ad vocates thin seeding, but his 
land is thoroughly underdrained, in fine mech 
anical condition, free from weeds and rich in 
available plant-food. When, by growing clover 
and feeding it to sheep,I get my land as rich as his 
I shall probably sow less seed, but not till then. 
Two years ago I sowed a ten-acre field of 
barley, that had been “fall-fallowed,” at the 
rate of l 1 !'* bushels per acre, and another field of 
14 acres, at the rate of 2‘| 2 bushels per acre, and 
I had more barlej'- from the 10 acres than from 
the 14 acres. If I recollect right, the tliiu- 
seeded field yielded nearly 50 bushels per acre, 
and the other about 33 bushels per acre. Now, 
this proves nothing in regard to the advantages 
or disadvantages of thick or thin seeding. I 
expected no more than I got from either field. 
It was the condition of the land and not the 
amount of seed that determined the yield. If I 
had sowed 2‘j 2 bushels per acre on the rich land, 
the season proving to be a very wet one, the 
crop would have fallen down and I should have 
got little or nothing but straw. Had I sown 
l'|i bushels per acre on the poorer field, I have 
no doubt (though I have no proof) that I should 
have got a less yield than I got with 2 1 1 2 bushels. 
I do not know how it is “ out West,” but here, 
in the Middle States, I think the error is in 
sowing too little rather than too much seed. 
But a still greater and more prevalent error 
is in not getting the land rich enough. In this 
section, the farmers, as a rule (though there are 
far too many exceptions) put the land in good 
mechanical condition for the seed. They make 
it very smooth and mellow on the surface. But 
they do the work in too short a time, and get 
comparatively little benefit from the decompos¬ 
ing and fertilizing influence of the atmosphere. 
The fields look very smooth and nice. The 
wheat is sown early, and presents a handsome 
appearance in the autumn, but does not come 
up to expectations the next spring and summer. 
It is not rich enough. On heavy clay land we 
must summer-fallow more, breaking up earlier 
in the spring, or the fall previous, and doing the 
work more thoroughly. On lighter land, that 
does not need summer-fallowing, we must grow 
more clover, manure higher, and grow grain 
crops less frequently until we get the land rich. 
Then, if you are afraid the land is so rich that 
the crop will fall down, sow less seed, and do 
not sow too early. If I had land that I thought 
was not rich enough to produce 15 bushels per 
acre, I would not sow over 1*| 4 bushels of seed 
(and if I acted wisely I should not sow at all). 
If I had reason to suppose the land rich enough 
to produce 30 bushels per acre, I would sow 2 
bushels per acre. If I thought it rich enough 
to produce 50 bushels, I would not sow over 
l’| i bushels per acre—perhaps only one bushel. 
And I am not sure that the same principles 
will not apply to corn. On very poor land 
plant thin, on rich land plant thicker; and if 
there ever is a case where the land is too rich 
for corn, plant thinner again. But I have 
never known an instance of this kind. Practi¬ 
cally, we should plant thicker as the land is 
richer. I think you will find that all the great 
corn crops that have been reported have been 
planted thicker in the rows, one way, than 
usual. And hence I advocate drilling in corn on 
very rich land. But on poor land that will not 
yield over 70 bushels of ears per acre, I 
would plant in hills, three and a half feet apart 
each way, and three or four plants in a hill. 
Fig. 3.—UPPER NIPPERS OF A 4}£-YEAR-OLD 
Fig. 3.—LOWER NIPPERS OF A 4X'VEAR-OLD COLT. 
Horses’ Teeth. 
There is no disputing the convenience of 
horses’ teeth as a means for ascertaining 
the age of the animals; but they perform a 
much more important office. No contrivance 
of art is so perfectly fitted for its destined use 
as these are adapted to theirs. It is worth one’s 
while occasionally to study the admirable 
mechanical contrivances by which animals per¬ 
form their various functions with 
ease and rapidity. The rumi¬ 
nants, cows, deer, sheep, etc., bite 
off the herbage by pressing their 
incisor or cutting teeth, which 
are in the lower jaw, against an 
elastic, firm, gristly cushion, 
which is in place of teeth upon 
the upper jaw in front. Of 
course the bite is decisive, the 
grass yields, and not a spear or 
leaf can pull through. When 
two sets of teeth opposed to each 
other, however, if like those of a 
man or a dog, grass would be 
likely to draw through aud little 
really bitten off. In the structure 
of horses’ teeth this is overcome 
by giving the teeth rough faces 
like those of the jaws of a pair 
of pincers. Such a distribution 
and alternation of enamel and 
bone is made that a most admir¬ 
able surface for taking a tight 
nip is produced. Such a tooth 
must necessarily wear faster than 
one the surface of which is a 
thick, solid plate of enamel. 
And consequently there is provi¬ 
sion for its renewal in the growth 
of the tooth, which continues 
throughout the life of the horse. 
subsequently form the tough crust of the out¬ 
side, the hard enamel next it, and the dentine or 
bony mass within surrounding the cavity. Now 
let us suppose the point of this conical, plastic 
body to be pushed inward into the cavity with¬ 
in the tooth, just as we can draw the toe of a 
stocking into the same. Figure 1 shows how 
this is. Here one of the incisors or nippers 
is represented split lengthways. 
The tough cement or crust, a , is 
seen upon the outside passing over 
the edge, entering and lining the 
cavity. The enantel, b, follows the 
cement, and the ivory or dentine , c, 
is reflexed upon itself. The grind¬ 
ing of the teeth upon each other, 
and upon grit contained in their 
food, soon wears them to a nearly 
flat “ table,” which will of course 
remain irregular on its surface so 
long as it is composed of substances 
varying so much in hardness—the dentine 
of course wearing down and leaving the 
enamel and cement exposed to greater 
wear. The horse sheds his first pair of 
milk-teeth when coming three years old, 
and they are replaced by the two central 
incisors or nippers; the other two pairs 
of nippers follow, and by the time the 
animal is 4‘| 2 years old, all the permanent 
nippers are in sight, and the middle ones 
of both jaws show some wear. Fig.3 repre¬ 
sents the lower nippers of a 4‘12-year-old 
horse, and fig. 2 the upper jaw of the same, which 
always show least abrasion. The sharp edges of 
the outside pair may be distinctly seen, and the 
dark cavity in the centre with its irregular edge. 
This cavity is called by horse-men the mark , as 
it forms a black mark, edged with white, in the 
center of each of the nippers, until a horse is 
about 7 years old, then it nearly or quite disap¬ 
pears from the two middle nippers of the lower 
inm nvwl ciilicdnnpntlir fiv,,>i tlio Otlld'S. In a 
4.—UPPER NIPPERS OF A 6-Y’EAR-OLD. 
Fig. 5.— LOWER NIPPERS OF A 6-YEAR-OLD. 
An idea of the structure of a horse’s front 
teeth may be had if we suppose each tooth to 
have been once plastic and conical, hollow 
within, and composed of but three layers, ivhich 
four-year-old the mark will take the fine point 
of a knife to the depth of about half an inch, 
and this much of the tooth must, of course, all 
be worn away before the tooth presents the ap- 
