The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1894-08-09
THE USE or
THE FEET IN
SOWING ! ! ! PLANTING
BY PETER HENDERSON,
BY PETER HENDERSON

| L W E'liS 9Stlo I'l>t nave, Ill MlltinT
on gardening matters, insisted upon the
great importance of "irming" the soil over
seeds after sowing, especially when Tie soil
is dry or likely to become SO. | know of
no operation Of mere Importance in either
the farm or the garden, and | trust that
what am about to say will be read and re-
mcmbcrcd by every one not yet aware Of
the vast Importance of the practice | say
vast importaHcc,' for the loss to the a"r
cultural and horticultural community, from
the habit OF loosly sowing seeds or planting
plants III hot and dry soils, is of Il ma,rui
'ude which few will believe, until they
have witnessed it; and it is loss all Ihc
more to be regretted, when we know that
''llming' the soil around the seed or plant
Isl III most cases, certain preventive.
Particularly in the sowing of seeds. |
consider the matter Of such vast impvuancr.
that It cannot be too often or too s,ronr)v
told; for the loss to thc agricultural and
horticultural community, by the neglect Of
the simple operation of firminr The soil
around the seed, must amount to many
millions annually. For the mischief done
Is not confined to the less important card,,9
operations, but even Corn, Gotten, Wheat
lurnipS and other important crops of the
larm of'cn tail, III hot and dry Soils, hv be-
ing sown without being fimcd sufficiently,
to prevent the dry air shriveiing or dryin~
the seeds. or course, the use Of tic feet
IS lmplactlcablc III tirming seeds ON ihc
iarnl, but heavy roller, applied after SOW
ing, is IN absolute necessity under rctlnin
conditions Of the soil, to insurc urrrrc,
gcrmnation. From The middle of Npil TO
nearly Tie end OF May of this year in many
sections OF the country. there WAS lii.la or
no ram. Such was particularly the case in
the vicinity Of New Nork Civ, where we
have hundreds of market gardeners, who
cultivate thousands Of acres Of Cahi,nI
Caulitiowcr and Celery, but the "dry srrin."
has p'aycd sad havoc with their seed beds
Celery is not Onc-fOurth OF Il crop and Cab
hagc and Cauliilowcr hardly hall, and this
laiIurc is due to no other Il c than that
they persist in sowing their src,iS without
ever taking the pTCcautUn to firm The soil
by rolling.
We sow annually about four acres of
Celery, Cabbage and Caulillowrr plants,
which produce probably five millious in
number, and which we never fail To sell
mostly iii our immediate ncighhorh0od, 10
the market gardeners, who have, many of
them, even better facilities lha we have
fer raising these plants il thcy would only
do as we do, firm the seed after sowing.
WHICH is done thus:
After powing, narrowing and lcvclin.s
the land smoothly, lines are drawn bv 1li,.
: "markcr, which makes Il furrow about two
inches deep and Il 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.whcrc the seed has been s0wa: the
rows are then lightly lcvclcd longitudinal!y
, with the rake, Il light roller il; passed over
them, and the operation is done.
by this method Our crop has never once
failed, and what is true Of Celery and Cab
/ bagc seed is nearly true Of all other seeds
. requiring to be sOwn during the late spring
or summer months.
On J.ly 2d, OF 1874, n an EXPERIMENT.
sowcd II rows Of Sweet Corn and ~ rows
OF Bccts, trcatling in, after SOW ING, every
alternate row of each. In both cases those
trod in came up in four days, while those
unflrmcd remained IL days before starting
and would not then have terminated had
not rain fallen, for the soil was dry as u,lst
when the seed were SOwn.
The result was that the seeds that had
been troddcn in grew freely from the start,
, and maturrd their crops TO il marketable
condition by fall; while the rows unllrmcd
did not mat"rc, as they were not only crht
days later iii gcrminating, but the plants
were also, to some extent. cnfceblcd by he
ing partially dried in the loose, dry soil.
The same season, in August, | treated
seeds Of Turnips and Spinach in the same
way. Those trod in @rmnatcd ut once
: and made on excellent crop, while those
untirmcd gemjnatcd fccbiy, and were
eventually nearly all burned out by the dry
hot air penetrating through the loose soil
to the tender rOOtlctS.
l beg to caution the inexperienced, how
ever, by no means TO tread or roll in seed
if the ground is not dry. The soil may
often be in suitable condition to SOW Hnd
yet be too damp to be trOIdcm upon 9!
rolled. In such cases these operations MA :
not be necessary ut all, for if rainy weather
5 cnsues, the seeds will gcrminaic of course:
but if there is any likelihood of continued
drought, the trcading or r,,I!ing may be
done week or more after The seed has
, been sown, if there is any reason to believe
J that it may suffer from the dry, hot air.
Another very important advantage gained
by trcadmg in the seeds is, tEat when we
have crops of Bccts, Celery, Tumips,
/ Spinach, or anything else that is sown in
@ rows, the seeds to form the crop come III
at once; while the seeds Of The weeds. ihHt
arc just as liable to perish nv the heat az
those OF The crop, are retarded. Such OF
the weed seeds rs lie i'm the space between
the rows when the soil is loose, will not
gcrminatc as quickly rs those of the cror
sown; and hence he can cultivate between
The rows before the weeds gcrminatc at al.
The above cmbodics the experience Of
one OF the most practical and successful
market gardeners Of the country, and we
believe the adoption of Lis plan would al
: most entirely put an end to complaints Of
failure to secure Il stand of turnips.
The tnrnip seeds we offer, we believe,
| fully equal in quality to any sold in this
market. We make no claims that rs are
better than all others, and would not expect
sensible people to believe any such state
mcut.
We solicit your business on truthful
statement OF what VIC believe to be actual
facts.