The free citizen. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-10-16
FALL SEEDING.

ject of fall seeding. lie said that i'll
bringing before the club the results Of
his practice and observation on the sub
iect OF fall seeding, he would conlinc
himself merely to those species OF vcgcta-
ton mos, allied to the interests OF the
farmer, namely:
CEREALS AND GRASSES There are
two species OF wheat in cultivation,
Tutum Hybcrnum, or winter, and Tut
cum .Estivum. or spring wheat. TO the |
former Of these we shall continc our al
tention. The preparation Of the soil for |
the reception of the seed will very much |
depend upon the preceding crop. III the
British Isles, where tho crops follow each |
other in systematic order, it usually |
follows Il green crop. Very often, how
ever, there, as here, it succeeds Il clover |
crop. In this case, the land should be
neatly plowcd TO the depth OF six or
eight inches, the seed Sowm broadcast
and narrowed iii. Il Il good seed bed
can not hc obtained, the hes; plan is To
harrow down and SOW witha drill across
the line OF blowing.
USE Of LIME.-rhc use Of lime to the
soil as u finale to the preparatory culti-
vution will be found most beneficial
Lime enters into the constitution OF both
plants and animals, it forms Il large per-
centage of the bones Of man and beast,
and is found in no incrnsidcriblc proper
ton in the ashes Of olr cultivated
plants The soil best suited to wheat is
Il calcarcous ioam, and hence the import
ancc Of lime being ;prescnt in the soil.
Lime acts chemically and mechanically
upon the soil. 1t tears asunder the con
stitution of the soil and liberatcs plant
food. Al plants eXcrctc matter delcter-
ious i'll their system, which is continual
ly accumulating in the soil! In this
country, where the crop is consecutive
tor /, number Of years, there is no mate
rial which can he more judiciousiv APP
piled to the soil than lime 4 short
time ago it was my good fortune to spend
an evening with Il friend, Il farmer in the
Illinois bottom. In walking over the
farm my attention was arrested by Il crop
of winter cabbages (in reality it was only
half a crop.) On inquiry, found the
same crop to have been grown on the
same field for the past six or eight years
On pulling up II head of the cabbage
found the base of the stem encirclcd with
Il number of little nodes full of little in
sects, and the soil around the roots
mass of fungoid matter; malformation
was the peculiar disease resulting from
the soil being surcharged with this viru-
lent excrementitious matter, and lime is
the great preservative.
All soils are benefited by the applica-
tion of time, even those formed from the
crumbling down of limestone rock, but
p3E:ticularly aluminous and alluvial, and
tlose black peaty looking soils 50 COM
mon among us. Those soils naturally
contain large amount of humic, ulmic,
E-'tlic and tannic acids, which have the
operty of preserving animal and vege-
able matter from decay. Lime neutral
!. { sezes the aeidsand accelerates decomposi-
= .,e1on. Lime has a great tendency tt9sink
through the cracks and tissurcs of the
earth, and hence it is generally scattered.
broadcast and narrowed in.
BROADCAST SOWING VERSUS DRILL
ING ETc.-There are four methods usu-
ally resortcd to in sowing wheat, viz:
Drilling, broadcast, rbbing and dibbinc.
Drilling, as a general rule, is most pre-
terable, but I contend that when a uni
tofm tilth and surface can be had, and
the seed scattered regularly, which is
always the case when the hands and feet
go III concert with. each other, there is,
no system So coin1ncndable as broadcast
sowing. First, because each seed has an
allotted space to sustain itself, and see
ond, because the suns heat and air are
more uniformly admitted, thereby caus-
ing earlier maturity.
The great Jethro Tull in instituting
drill husbandry never contemplated uni
formity of depth so much as a facility of
operation between the drills in foul
land
Wheat is al exogenous plant, and has
Il great tendency to tillcr, arising from
the fact that the plumule, as hears the
embryo, becomes dilatcd and has the
property of pushing forth three or more
stems. AS soon as the crown Of the
plant becomes firmly established il sends
forth q number of surface roots, leaving
the plant two distinct series of Soas con-
nccted bva small pipe or tnbr, The
former are known as corona and the lat
ter as seminal roots, and these are direct
evidence that the Importance and ncccs-
sity of deep cultivation. In the sclcc-
ton OF seed we are to be guided entirely
by soil and climate, but be that as it |
may, one thing is certain, that the seed |
should be round and plump, with per-
tectly smooth skin and translucent color.
PREPARATION OF SEED Prior To
sowing, the seed should be picked as an
ant1dote to smut, or red rust, etc; some
farmers who are too ignorant to believe
it or too Indifferent to try it, look upon
it as ludicrous specific, but practical
demonstration has repeatedly substan-
tiatcd the proof of it. OF course there
have occurred and will occur exceptions.
incubation, for example, will not insure
immunity from pleura- pneumonia in
cattle, yet it has been found to arrest its
ravages, and it is the very same in pick
ling wheat.
cfnn Il,