Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1905-04-14
How Deep to Plant or Sow Var.
iOus Grains and Grasses.

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Our correspondents are asking us, as
usual each spring, to tell them specific
ally how deep 10 cover the various
grains and grasses to insure germina-
tion. This is one of the questions that
no mortal man can answer specifically
for himself il he will give five minutes
close thought to the subject. ...
There are certain laws that govern
the termination of grain and grass
seeds which are as immutable as the
moral laws of the universe, and which
no man dare violate without suffering
the penalty. Grain and grass seeds
must have three things to insure germi.
nation-not one nor two, but three; and
given these they will invariably germi
nate. provided they are sound seeds.
These three things are heat, air, and
moisture; mind You, all three The
points for the farmer to determine are:
How deep shall l plaut my seed and
what time shall Iplant it 10 secure the
amount Of heat necessary for germina-
lion varying with different seeds), and
low deep shall I plant to insure suffici-
ent moisture and yet not exclude the
air? Any seed that has life in it will
grow if you give it these conditions.
For instance, you may put clover
seed in the manure pile and compact
it by the treading of cattle so as to OK.
ciude the air and it will not grow. It
has heat, plenty oft; it has moisture,
but not air. It will lie there ten years,
and then, if given air, heat and moist
ure, will grow, provided. of course, the
heat in the pile has not been sufficient
to destroy terminating power You
can put it in a sack and let it have heat
and air, without moisture, and it will
not grow. You can give it moist
ure and air, but if it don't have suffici-
ent heat it won't grow.
The problem, therefore, to be solved,
is: Just how deep must cover my
wheat, my oats, my corn, in order to
insure termination? The growing sea
son will give the heat. The thorough
preparation of the seed bed will give
the air. The farmer must determine
for himself how deep he should plant it
to secure the moisture 1t will not
grow in dry dust, even though it has
air and heat. 1t must have moisture
also The chemical changes necessary
to start the growth of the young plant
require heat, moisture and air--all
three.
Let us apply this. The farmer In
tends to SOW his clover seed on the
frozen ground. When should he SOW
it, No matter when he sows it, it will
not grow until the season brings the
heat necessary. The freezing and
thswing in ground that has considera-
able clay will cover it shallow. and that
is just what is required. If it were
possible to cover it as deep in March as
is required in April his clover seed
would not grow. The later the sowing
and the drier the weather and the
sander the soil, the deeper must it be
covered to secur 9 the necessary moist
ure.
Take it again in the case of corn.
The farmer is very anxious to get an
early stand of corn. His ,eoil is per
haps of a wettish order, somewhat
heavy. If he plants this corn as deep
the last Of April or the first of May as
he would the 10th of May he will prob
ably have no stand. no matter how
great the terminating power. There.
fore if the corn is planted early and
the ground is little inclined to be
wet. it should be covered shallow in
order to get the heat. w hereas, if
planted late and the soil sandy, or, as
we say, light and the ground dry, it
must be planted deep in order to get
the moisture. Nv
Think over these things and deter.
mine for yourself in the light of your
own conditions and circumstances just
how deep you should cover seeds, and
you will have no difficulty.