The Portland daily press., 1877-05-22
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Haste in Seed-SOWing,

hdSIC LII DCCu-OOW1HSS
In no department of industry is there more
need of the exercise of good sense and pru-
dence than in that of husbandry. and no.
where else are mistakes more productive of
evil results. In looking over the whole
round of the farmers active life, we are in
clined to believe that his most serious errors
are in the beginning of the season, consist
ing largely in premature, and therefore I'M
profitable investments of labor; and especial
ly in undue haste in pntting seed in the
earth. So far as some of the most important
matters in every farmers work are concerned,
as for instance hoeing, haying and harvest
ing, there need be no great margin for doubt
or mistake and the wayfaring man, though
a fool need not err therein. Weeds show
themselves as enemies and therefore are to
be destroyed; the burrows which are beaten
down and made hard by sun or rain, are to
be lightened by cultivation, and the crops
which have reached maturity and ceased to
draw further nourishment from the earth,
are to be gathered TO prevent actual depre-
citation. In these and many other directions
the indications and suggestions are so I'M
mistakable as not to be misinterpreted, and
we find they rarely are by intelligent obser-
vers. But so far as the actual beginning is
concerned, the depositiug of seed in the earth
1t would seem if we judge from the common
practice of farmers, that either no definite
rules can be drawn from nature or experience
or else that they are not well understood.
This appears from the fact that many men
will begin their farming operations, and
even SOW seed should dry ground appear, in
March or April. and with excessive conf
dence they predict an abundant harvest,
merely from the earliness of the season. So
on the other hand, should the lingering
snow or the prevalence of cold winds and
rains, prevent all active work until the APP.
proach of June, the same persons would
think it almost too late to begin, and quite
despair of seeing any return for their labor.
Dissenting from the conclusions and prac-
tices to which we have referred, we believe
that seedtime and harvest will not only re-
turn In due season, but that in the former
case there need be no mistake as to the prop
er time, and taking as we always should ex-
actly the right time, we thereby avoid the
mischief resulting from an extreme of haste
or delay. 1t is not necessary to consult the
almanac In order to learn when the time for
planting and sowing has come-he whoIrelies
only upon the day of the month will at some
time be led astray. Nature is the only true
guide. As we wait always for her springtime
before we prepare the earth for seed, why not
still further wait until she unfolds her leaves
and flowers before we ask her to aid our arti-
fetal operations in plant life and growth? 1t
may be affirmed as a general rule that moth
ing is gained by planting while the conditions
of earth and air are unfavorable, although it
is true that the seeds of grass and grain and
some of the early and hardy vegetables may
be sowed before the frost fairly leaves the SOIL
In almost all other cases early planting is fol-
lowed by struggle with cold weather, with
weeds and insects, and necessarily by a
dwarfed and unhealthy growth, so that the
final product is often inferior to that which
succeeds later planting.
AS the result Of some observation and ex-
perience we do not hesitate to assert that in
our latitude the ordinary crops of the farm or
garden are in the safest condition if still un-
der ground during the first week In June,
as summer weather rarely comes before that
time and not unfrequently even then growing
plants are cut down or injured by cold winds
or frosts: the soil protects the springing
shoots, and as soon as the danger is over they
Immediately start into a vigorous and I'M
checked growth. AS familiar Illustration of
the rapidity with which comparatively late
planted crops will grow we need only men.
ton that when missing hills of corn are re-
planted at the first hoeing, they often mature
with the early planted hills.
A certain fixed amount of heat is needed to
bring any crop to maturity, and for all those
that are peculiarly sensitive to uDfavorable
influences the more continuously and COM
pactly it can be brought to bear upon them
the better. We are therefore disposed to be-
lieve that all such plants as are not planted
until the earth and air are warmed by the
summers sun, will not only ripen in short
er time, but also be of better quality than
if started earlier. For similar reason tropi-
cal plants, or those requiring longer season
than ours. and therefore started in hot beds,
should not be set out until settled warm
weather comes.