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SEEDING THE SOIL 
SEEDING THE SOIL. 
By J. W. HOYT. 
Assuming that the seed has been properly selected and pre¬ 
pared, the next subject of inquiry is, How shall it be planted 
or sown ? The answer must relate to time , quantity , distance 
apart , depth , and the means employed —particulars of much 
importance and therefore worthy of careful attention and elab¬ 
orate discussion. 
THE PROPER TIME FOR SEEDING 
Is one of the most variable elements involved in the problem 
of seeding, and can only be determined within pretty wide 
limits, at best. 
Considered without reference to exceptional cases, adventi¬ 
tious circumstances, ormecessities of climate, we are decidedly 
partial to the old maxim, “Take time by the forelock,” and 
therefore declare boldly in favor of early planting; inasmuch 
as the farmer thereby avoids that hurry and bustle of a neces¬ 
sarily busy season, which is almost sure to result in the half¬ 
doing of a portion of other work which belongs to it; because 
it gives him more time for thorough after-cultivation; and be¬ 
cause it is more likely to insure a perfect growth and develop¬ 
ment of the plant. 
In the milder climates the difference of a few days is usually 
a matter of but small importance; but in the higher latitudes, 
where the seasons are short and often hardly competent to the 
maturing of the crop, it becomes a question of great practical 
moment— one, indeed, upon the decision of which not unfre- 
quently the success of the harvest depends. 
So far as climate or season is a modifying circumstance, the 
general rule in the colder latitudes, for those crops to be planted 
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