Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-04-04
Sowing Grain Evenly.

| 1t requires the practical experience
of several years to be able to SOW
grain with satisfactory evenness.J AS
no man can distribute grain by hand
! as evenly as it can be done with q good
| drill or a broadcast seed-sower. the
| true way is to perform this difficult
labor with machine. But when one
| has only few acres to be seeded the
| cost of seed-drill will not warrant
the expenditure, as large portion of
| the crop would be required to defray
| the expense of such an implement.
Hence the work must be performed by
| hand.
There are several ways in vogue of
sowing by hand, namely: Sowing by
lands, sowing by furrow slices, sowing
| by means of stakes, and sowing by
marks. We have sometimes plowed
the ground in lands about twenty-one
or twenty feet broad from one middle
| furrow to another, which would be of
sufficient width for a person to SOW at
one round. Sometimes the lands have
! been made about forty-four feet broad,
so that the breadth from one middle
| fnrrow to the ridge would be about
right for one round. But numerous
ridges and middle burrows are objec-
tionable. We have sOwn great many
acres by stakes. which is Il good way
| to SOW, provided one can walk straight,
and cast every handful of seed with
| uniform precision. Some farmers
follow furrow slices as nearly as they
can do SO, when sowing seed broad
cast. But this practice is objectiona-
bic, as the ground should be narrowed
down smooth before the grain is dis
tributed over the surface. The better
way to SOW evenly is to mark out the
ground in narrow plots us wide as one
desires to SOW at each round. This
can be done most conveniently by
hitching two horses to plow, on the
point of which is placed shoe to keep
it from making furrow. A shallow
mark is all that is needed. Place the
plow at the desired spot, at one side or
end of the field, then set a tall stake
seven or eight PAGES (about twenty-one
or more feet distantl, drive the team
straight to stake at the other end,
measure off the width of the plot and
return to the stake. We prefer this
mode of preparing the ground for the
seed to any other. 1t will require only
short time to mark out ten-acre
field as designated. BY having small
marks to guide the sower he will be
able to distribute the seed much more
evenly than it can be done 10y hand in
any other way.
When the ground is marked off in
narrow plots one can SOW much more
evenly than by stakes only. as he can
see whether every cast of seed falls
| fully up to the mark or whether balks
are made. When sowing seed of any
sort by hand, the sower should aim to
move with a uniform step in straight
| line, and to cast every handful of seed
with a given force, so that all the
ground may he covered uniformly with
| seed When the wind blows it is
| always better to cast the seed with the
| wind, even if the sower is required TO
travel half the time without sowing.
! 1t is better also to tow with both
| hands than with only one. The left
| foot should be moved forward while
| the right hand is casting the seed, and
the right foot should make step while
the left hand is sowing. BY moving
| the right foot in conjunction with the
left arm and the left foot with the
right arm. the body will maintain its
balance with less effort, and the sOwer
will be enabled to distribute the seed
more evenly.-N. Y, Herald.