The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-12-03
Getting Heavier Crops.

A correspondent in recent number
OF your paper says "the increase in
our crops must come from the longer
ears OF corn and more ears to the hill,
and long and better filed heads of rye,
wheat and oats, and not greatly in
creased length of straw or quantity
grown per acre" This is secured on
good ground, By sowing thinner than
we are accustomed to do, giving a
chance for sun and air to have better
access, not only to heads and ears,
put to the stalks as well-the latter
Deing OF Importance, as it is the stalk
that produces the head, and if this
suffers the other must be affected also.
am surprised that this is not more
considered and acted upon, as is so
readily seen when fodder corn is
grown, where, from the close set, few
or no ears appear. In close growth
OF wheat or other grain, small heads
are invariably the result, with lighter
and less grains in proportion to size of
head. The best yields of wheat
ever knew were from a comparatively
thin stand, stalks and heads large. In
my own experience, the best oats were
raised, both in quantity and quality,
from thin sowing. Barley comes un-
der the same head, though it will allow
a somewhat closer stand.
Millions of dollars are yearly thrown
away in seed, and many millions more
are lost in the crops that follow. Let
farmers experiment fairly, not for a
year only, but for several seasons in
succession. Sow about third less
,1snan the average, and do not fear to
try half the amount usually sown.
More than all else, measure the grain
the thick and the the thin sowing
each by itself-as the mere appearance
in the field is misleading, the thick
stand showing the best to the mex
perienced eye. Corn in particular
wants more open stand than we are
accustomed to give it, especially where
the ground is Strong and the season
favorable. This will also give chance
for continuing the cultivation longer, a
matter of no little Importance, not
only so far as it increases the yield,
but as it keeps the ground cleaner
and improves it for the next crop. Of
the sowed grains, wheat perhaps re-
quires the most space. 1t has been
considerably benefited by the change
from hand-sowing to drilling, and the
less seed used is not one of it's lesser
advantages, and it has been brought
about by testing. Too much is even
yet sown where seed and ground are
good; the stalks are too close in the
drills; there is not the freedom required
for tillering, without which the largest
yields cannot be grown. Thinner
sowing would also secure a better
catch in seeding down.
Much experiment has no doubt been
made to find out how thick grain should
be sown, but the important thing to be
considered has probably seldom en-
tered into the calculations of the ex-
perimenter; namely, that the ground
be rich and in good condition; to allow
of stooling. The extent to which this
may be carried is remarkable, and de-
pending entirely upon the strength and
favorable condition of the ground, if
there is no outside hindrance. But
just this outside hindrance prevails in
thick sowing, aided by the exclusion
of the requisite sun and air The richer
the ground the thinner should be the
sowing till the amount reaches about
half the quantity that is commonly
sown per acre. l was led to investigate
this by grain that had been sown un.
even or in streaks," the thinnest
not only having the largest and best
filed heads, and the soundest grain,
but upon test showed also the greatest
yield from an equal area of ground.
The exceptions to this were when in a
wet season the coarse grasses that
spring up choked the thin standing
grain, the thick stand being much less
affected by the grass through its shade.
No doubt it has been observed by most
farmers that where grain is sowed in
streaks, leaving some of the streaks al
most bare, as the crops grew the differ
ence became less and less, and at matur-
ity,almost or entirely disappeared. 1t on
ly needed-what was seldom or never
done to measure the grain from equal
areas of the thick and the thin sowing,