Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1849-07-12
Seeds and thin Sowing.

An astounding faa on the foreground of
all inquiries RESPECTING the seeds sown by
farmers, is, that an aormous proportion of
them is destroyed, O. never germinates.-
This proportion has ben computed to a.
mount to two thirds tie entire quantity
sown; aud, therefore, involve the stupen-
dous and annual wse throughout Great
Britain and Ireland CA,666, 666, quarters
OF wheat, barley anoMs--a quantity equal
to the support of onUilion human beings.
One portion of the Is of sown corn seeds
is easily traceable :oirds; and whatever
amount of this is ocsioned by the under
narrowing of light ais, might easily be
prevented Anotheportion of the loss is
Il aceable to the burng and rottng effect
of too much moiste; and whatever a.
mount of this is ocsioned by the stagna-
ton of rain water 1.-THE burrows and hol-
lows, ought to be aabed to bad tillage or
insufficient drainage A third potion of
the loss is traceableo the trampling Of the
hcrses, pressing the eed beyond the action
OF air, or making hoes over them for stag.
nant water; but ths, in the present state
of husbandry canndbe avoided. A fourth
portion of the loss htraceable to the exclu.
sion OF air by adhesye clays, or undue ex-
posture to frost or hat by sandy soils; and
this, as well as the geater evil of COMPARE
tive infertlIity, mighbe cured by little
geological improvement A fifth portion Of
the loss is very probably caused by the dep
relations Of numerous insects which lnhab-
1t the soil, yet, as tie seed is not eaten by
them, but damagedr destroyed in conse-
quence of their peculiar habits of existence,
this source Of loss proper subject of in
vestigatlon of entonologists A sixth por'
ton of the loss is, IN some instances, very
probably by noxious metallic salts existing
In combination with the soil and this evil
as well as other evils of greater magnitude,
forms decided reason for careful chem
zeal analysis of soils A seventh portion
OF loss is possibly, though not certainly,
traceable to high electric influence; and
this consideration, in spite of being merely
theoretc, is strong enough to concur with
reasons of greater weight for urging upon
scientific agrcultunlists the study Of cleo,
trlclty, and Of electric agency on soils and
vegetation, An eighth portion Of the loss
is, in many instances, manifeshy occasion
ed by over ripeness, and bad preservation
or the otherwise damaged vitality of the
seeds; and this-+oiien very abundant
portion of loss-may easily be prevented by
using only seed corn, all the grains o
which, when tested in the sample OF one Oh
two handfuls, will sink readily in water.
A ninth portion Of the loss-and this
both general and large portion-is caused
by damage to the seed, or absolute destruct
ion to its vitality, from the blow OF the scut
cheers or the fail in threshing; and THU
ought to be prevented by a slow, cautious
and quite partial threshing of the selected
sheaves for seed corn, leaving the remain
der of them to be afterwards threshed II II
the usual manner for edible grain. A tent
portion of the loss, and the last we shall
mention, is indiscrininates, owing to tn
want of adaptation in the quantity OF tn
seed to the powers of the SOIL
Rural CyclopGda