Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-12-03
Thick or Thin Seeding of Grain.


Of late years the practice of sowing or
drilling wheat and other grains more spar
ingly has much increased. The change
is partly due, we hope, to better cultiva-
tion, better preparation of the soil, and
especially to the use of the drill, which
secures perfect covering of the seed at
uniform depth. In sowing on the furrow,
especially on new land among stumps and
stones, not more than half the grain would
grow, and often less than that. If the
drill distributes evenly the quantity of
grain really needed for good seeding is
very small-much less than any farmer
thinks of sowing. Some curious calcula-
tiODs on this subject show that a bushel of
wheat contains about 100000 grains,
enough to give, if distributed evenly and
all grew, a plant to every three square
inches of space, One peck per acre. would
leave the plants only six inches apart,
which is,really closer than need be for a
good crop. An English farmer by hand.
planting wheat, the grains nine inches
apart, has secured crop Of sixty bushels
per acre. .s.f stse1 Ea8frH
1t is commonly urged by farmers that
thick seeding protects wheat from the Sc
verify of the winter by insuring a large
growth of tops. But as each Individual
plant is crowded and stunted it is less
fitted to endure the severity of winter
Often on fields which looked promising in
fall have seen the ground entirely bare
in spring. There is, of course, a slight
advantage in the decaying stems and roots
of the plants which die, as manure but it
is the dearest fertilizer that any farmer can
use. If wheat is to be used as fertilizer
let the portion not absolutely needed for
seed be matted, so that it will not grow,
and distribute with the rest. OF course
no farmer would do that, but it is more
sensible than sowing more seed than is
needed with the idea of benefiting the
crop. There is shrewd sense in the En-
glish prOverb: The worst weed for the
wheat plant is another wheat plant. Other
weeds might take something not needed
for wheat, but the surplus wheat plants
rob the soil of what is most needed to be
retained tor the crop.
We have noted some experiments in
thick and thin sowing of spring grain.
In most cases the results were apparently
favorable to the thin seeding, especially
where the ground was rich. Unfortu.
nately, the experiments were not accurate
ly made, and only the general result can
be stated. Thick seeding apparently did
best on soil not rich enough to allow the
grain to spread from the root. AS a rule,
the richer the land the less seed required
or allowable. rir
A further conclusion on this subject
seems to be that thin seeding gives larger
and heavier grain than where the plants
are crowded closely together. BY mis-
take last spring on the home farm few
bouts of barley were drilled in at the rate
of little more than a bushel per acre. The
barley for several weeks appeared quite
thin, but before harvest became nearly as !.
thick as the other, and we fancied was
heavier head and berry than the remain
der OF the field sown at the rate of two
and one-half bushels per acre. On the
headlands, where the drill overlapped,
sowing five bushels per acre, the barley
was almost a failure, small straw, smaller
heads and very small grains. This view
in favor of light seeding is confirmed by
Mr.. Mechi, the celebrated English farmer,
who says in the English horticultural
Gazette that he has reduced the seeding of
barley from three bushels to six pecks per
acre, and that where three bushels is now
sown the crop is too light in grain for
mailing, and is fit only for grinding. We
think that on all rich land six pecks of
barley and the same of oats are better
than heavier seeding. For wheat one
bushel, or five pecks at most, ought to be
sufficient wherever wheat should be sown.
--Rurdt Nelo Yorker.