1 Suny, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AUNICULTURAL JOURNAL. 3 
the trouble frequently arose from his own method of sowing. Lt must be 
strictly remembered that to get an even crop a great deal depends upon how 
the sowing is accomplished. If the seed is dropped too scantily, a scanty crop 18 
the result; if too thickly, a puny immature broom-head of little or no value 1s 
harvested. When sown too thickly, it may, of course, be thinned out; but 
anyone who has experienced the arduous work which this operation involves, © 
when a large area has to be gone over, will hesitate before repeating the same 
error. When sowing, the object should be to have your stalks stand in the 
drills in the proportion of about 8 or 4/to a foot. ‘This, it will be seen, needs 
some discrimination. In dropping the seed, to provide for contingencies such 
as immature grain, &e., the quantity of seed dropped must be much in excess 
of this, and, as a matter of practice, it is scarcely possible either with hand. or 
implement to so graduate the sowing as to approach this proportion. Neverthe- 
less, by the adoption of proper methods, aided by a little experience, the sowing 
of the seed may be done so accurately as to obviate any necessity for either 
thinning or replanting: 
In sowing small areas, a little practice will enable the sower to drop the 
seed by hand in approximate proportion, but at best it is a slow operation, and 
anyone who wishes to cultivate this crop to any extent will do well to obtain 
a seed-sower adapted for the purpose, which will drill, drop, and cover at one 
operation. 
Disc. Disc. 
If using the Challenge seed sower in wet soil, precautions must be observed in. 
keeping the wheel clean, as by the adhesion of soil altering the circumference of 
the wheel the speed of the discs is somewhat varied, and consequently the seed 
is dropped thicker or thinner in some places ; also, care must be observed that 
soil does not clog the vent, as it will under some conditions, especially when 
working onfwaxy or clayey soils. Should the operator neglect to put his dise 
