The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1894-07-26
THE USE or
THE FLEET I'M
SOWING 5 PLANTING
BY PETER HENDERSON.
BY PETER HENDERSON,

~ o"h'o oSulo puot uVVc, Ill WrltlnI
on gardening matters, insisted upon the
great Importance of ''flrming" the soil over
seeds after sowing, especially when tho soil
is dry or likely to become 80. know Of
no operation Of more Importance in either
the farm or the garden, and trust that
what anu about to say will be read and re-
membered by every one not yet aware of
the vast importance Of she practice. I say
"vast Importance" fog the loss to the aprl-
cultural and horticultural community from
the habit of ]oosly sowing seeds or planting
plants IN hot and dry soils, is of a marni.
tude which few will believe, until they
have witnessed it; and 1t Is a loss all tho
more to be regretted, when we know tha,
"tlrming'' the soil around the seed or plant
is, in most cases, certain preventive.
Particularly in the sowing of seeds, !
consider the matter Of such vast importance
that it cannot be too often or too strongly
tod; Tor the loss to the agricultural al d
horticultural community, by the neglect f
the simple operation of tlrming the soil
around the seed, must amount to manv
millions annually. For the mischief done
is not confined to The less important garden
operations, but even Corn, Cotton, Wheat.
Iurnips and other important crops of the
farm often fail, In Lot and dry soils. bv he.
ing sown without bcisg tirmcd sufficiently
to prevent the dry air shrivclng or driving
the seeds. OF course, the use of the feet
is impracticablc III firming seeds on the
farm, but heavy roller, applied after SOW
ing, is an alb solule necessity under certain
conditions Of the soil, to insure perfect
termination. From the middle of April to
nearly the end of May of this year in many
sections Of the country, there was little or
no rain. Such was particularly the case in
the vicinity OF New York City, where we
have hundreds Of market gardeners, who
cultivate thousands Of acres of Cabbage,
Cnulitiowcr and Celery, but the "dry spring.
has played sad havoc with their seed beds.
Celery is not one-fourth OF crop and Cab.
bage and Caulitlowcr hardly half, and this
failure is due to no other cause than that
they persist in sowing their seeds without
ever taking tho prccaution to firm the soil
by rolling.
We SOW annually about four acres of
Celery, Cabbage and Cauliflower plants,
which produce probably five millions in
number, and which we never fail to sell
mostly in our immediate ncighhorhood, to
the market gardeners, who have, many of
them, even better facilities than we have
for raising these plants, If they would only
do as we do, firm the seed after sowing,
WHICH is done thus:
the land smoothly, lines are drawn by the
'mnrkcr, which makes furrow about two
inches deep and a'foOt apart; after the man
who sows the seed follows another, who.
with the ball of the right foot, presses down
his full weight on every inch of the soil in
the drill.whcre the seed has been sown; the
rows are then lightly lcvcled longitudinally
with the rake, light roller is passed over
them, and the operation is done.
By this mcthad our crop has never once
tailed, and what is true of Celery and Cab.
oaSc kccd IS near}y true of all other seeds
requiring to be sown during the late spring
or summer months.
On July I'd, of 1874, rs an experiment, 7
sowed II rows Of Sweet Corn and IL rows
OF Bccts, treading in, after sowing, every
alternate row OF each. In both cuscs those
trod IN cameup in four days, while those
unflrmcd remained 10 days before starting
and would not tllen have germnatcd Ind
not rain fallen, for the soil was dry as oust
when the seed were sown.
lhc result was that the seeds that Aad
been troddcn IN grew freely from the start.
ana natured their crops to a marketable
condition by fallT while the rows unfirmed
old not mature, as they were not only cipht
days later III terminating, hut tho plants
were also, to some extent. enfechled by be.
ing partially dried in the loose, dry soil.
lhc same season, in August, treated
seeds OF Turnips and Spinach in the same
way. Those trod in gcrmiDatcd at once
ana made On excellent crop, while those
unfrmed geyMinated fccbly, and were
eventually neasy all burned out by the drv
not air penetrating through the loose soil
to the tender rootlets.
beg to caution the inexperienced, how.
eyer ny no means to tread or roll In seed
II inc ground is not dry. The soil may
oitch DC III suitable condition to SOW and
ycI DC 100 damp to be trOddcn upon or
lolico' In such cases these operations may
not be necessary at all, for if roinv weathcr
cnsues, the seeds will germinatc of course:
nut if there is any Likelihood of continued
drought, tho trcading or rolling may be
aonc week or more after the seed has
bccn sown, there is any reason to believe
lhat 1t may suffer from She dry, hot air.
hho'hcr very important advantage gained
oy trcadlng IN the seeds is, that when we
have crops OF Bccts, Celery, Turnins,
spinach, or anything else that is sown in
rows, the seeds to form the crop come nm
II once; While the seeds of the weeds, TINT
,lc just as liable to perish by the heat as |
nose OF the crop, are retarded. Such of |
nc weed seeds as lie in the space between |
nc rows when the soil is loose, will not |
'rrminatc as quickly rs those of the crop
own; and bcncc he can cultivate between
nc rows before tho weeds gcrminatca at a,l.
The above embodics the experience of
nc OF the most practical and successful
'arkct gardeners OF the country, and we
elieve the adoption of lis plan would al.
lost entirely put an end to complaints OF
allure to secure stand of turnips.
The turnip seeds we offer, We believe.
1lly equal in quality to any sold in this
arkct. We make no claims that ours arc
'tter than all others, and would not cxpect
hslblc people 10 believe any such state.
ent.
we solicB Your business on a trnthful
atemcnt Of what we believe to- be actual
cts.