Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-08-14
How Much Seed Wheat 10 the Acre.

". , II. iu rmetolI FARMER
Until within three or four years |
had not given the matter thought.
but followed the example of my
nci2hbors and sowcd from five 10 six
pccks To the acre. In the fall Of
ls76, my ncighbor, by n mistake in
setting the drill. sowcd seven bushels
of seed on eight acres. | was in the
field when he was cutting il, and
think | never saw heavier growth
Of straw, and the appearance WAS
that if any fault could be found. il
was too thick on the ground. Since
that time, neither my neighbor nor
myself have sown over one bushcl to
the acre and our wheat crops have
been uniformly heavy.
In the fall Of 1871 sowcd a two.
acre patch Of wheat, and on one acre
used half n bushcl and the other a
bushcl of seed. II showed a marked
difference in the fall, but stoolcd in
the spring so IS to cover The ground
as completely on one part OF the
field as the other. When we harvest
cd II, neither the man who drove the
reaper nor the binders could see any
difference in the yield. / shocked il
and found fiity-onc shocks on one
side and iity-two on the other. and
1t thrcshed siNty-fvc bushels. or q
hfFE Igl la Y.FFss.s..v. h..
year We had the same two-acrc piece
in wheat, and | ordered it sowcd. the
first acre onc-half bushel. and the
other three pccks. The drill was a
new one, and after my man had sown
about fourth OF an acre he found
that he was getting on very little
seed, and changed the drill 70 three
pccks. When the wheat came up
there were many places from two to
four feet in the drill without a grain.
and 1t made such n sorry show, that
the first Of April | determined 10
plow it up and drove on with the
team for that purpose, but finally
changed my mind and leN il. The
result was n fair crop OF wheat, Ger.
tainly as much as twenty bushels 10
the acre, but not up TO the average of
the field. cannot tell Just how
much seed was used on this plat. as
the drill man did not tell me Of the
mistake, and ! only found it out after
the wheat came up, but ! do not
think it could have been more than
at the rate Of six quarts to the acre.
\ friend of mine who was for
many years a successful wheat grow.
or in Warren county, Ohio, and who
grew an average Of thirty-scven
bushels to the acre on his entire crop
for one year, assures me that he has
experimental till he is satisfied that
three pecks OF seed will grow a bet.
ter crop of wheat than larger
amount. | believe that 1t will be
found that every farmer who has
given the matter fair trial has been
pleased with the result of thin seed.
ing. Another thing which makes it
look reasonable that thin seeding is
best is. that we find an average Of
about thirty grains in a head, and as
each grain must produce one head, If
any, and may produce several, 1t
necessarily follows that if we SOW
one bushel to the acre and every
grain produces one head, we must
have thirty bushels TO the acre.
What then becomes of the rest of
the seed when we SOW five or six
pecks and harvest only twelve or fif-
teen bushels, rs Is generally the case
1t does not seem that il would be
very difficult to so enrich and pull
verize the soil of wheat field that
each stalk would tiller and produce
from four to six heads, and this
would make, if they were of average
size, from thirty To forty bushels per
acre. Probably 1t would be running
too much risk to SOW as little as n
peck TO the acre, but | believe thst
three pecks Is ample for any rich,
well-prepared soil. | expect TO thresh
tomorrow a six-acre field which was
sowed with that amount of seed, and
will report the average yield and
make some comments on IL in anoth-
er number. In the meantime let us
hear--bctwcen this and seeding time
from farmers who have sown less
than bushel to the acre, for in the
multitude of counselors there is
safety.
Odds aud ends from the table may
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