Sowing

“ One cannot lie here in the warm but unquickening sun, and see this sower crossing meadow and cornfield without a vision of waking life, of fields again all green where now stands the fodder, of woods all full of song as soon as this sowing and the sleeping of the seeds are done. The autumn wind goeth forth to sow, and with the most lavish of hands. He wings his seeds, and weights his seeds, he burrs them, rounds them, and angles them; they fly and fall, they sink and swim, they stick and shoot, they pass the millstones of the robins' gizzards for the sake of a chance to grow. ”

“ By good management this sowing may be made to serve the purpose of three sowings, the chief point being to prick out the most forward plants on another mild bed as soon as they are large enough to be lifted, and to make a succession from the same seed-bed as the plants advance to a suitable size. ”

“ HINTS AS TO THE LAYING DOWN LAND TO PERMANENT PASTURE. Having endeavoured to explain as nearly as possible the nature and uses of the plants which are likely to improve our meadows and pastures; I shall proceed to describe the best approved mode of sowing the land, on which depends, in a great measure, the future success of the husbandman's labour.
Under the head Lolium perenne I observed the practice of sowing clovers and that grass with a crop of barley or oats, which is intended as an intermediate crop for a season or two, and then the land to be again broken up and used for arable crops. ”

“ Sowing.—As the seed vegetates slowly,—sometimes remaining in the earth four or five weeks before the plants appear,—the sowing should be made as early in spring as the ground is in working condition. Lay out the bed of a size corresponding to the supply required, spade it deeply and thoroughly, level the surface (making it fine and smooth) , and sow the seed in drills fourteen inches apart, and half an inch deep. When the plants are two or three inches high, thin them to eight or ten inches apart; being careful, in the thinning, to leave only the best and finest curled plants. ”

“ Such sowing would [Pg 426] make more vigorous plants, with much stronger roots, which would withstand cold and unfavorable weather better than any other. We should still more strongly recommend another form of sowing, practised by some European cultivators with great success: it is, to drill in wheat, in rows two feet apart, and give it a spring cultivation; this gives great strength to the plants, destroys the weeds, promotes rapid growth by stirring the soil, and favors tillering, so that the rows will meet, and give a great growth. ”

“ Everything in a garden must be planted in some way or other, and there are many ways of planting and sowing. Sowing relates more particularly to seeds, and planting to the setting of plants that have been raised from seed in the first instance. The sowing of seeds is a very important work, and before seeds can be sown with a prospect of their springing up properly, the preparation of the soil, the time of the year, and even the time of day, must be taken into consideration. ”

“ Early Sowings.—Tomatoes, egg-plant, early cucumbers, cabbage, cauliflowers, broccoli, lettuce, melons, celery for an early crop, should have been, before this, well advanced in a hot-bed. If not, no time is to be lost; and if a first sowing is well along, a second sowing should be made.
You cannot get too early into the ground after the frost is out and the wet a little dried, onions for seed or a crop, lettuce, radishes, peas, spinage, parsnip, early cabbage, and small salads. ”

“ If the sowing is done early, in fall or spring, less seed may be used than if the sowing is late, because the early sowing gives a better chance for root development, which results, ordinarily, in more vigorous plants that consume more moisture than the smaller and weaker plants of later sowing. ”

“ The most important objects in sowing are; 1. To commit the seed to the ground, at as early a period of the season as the nature of the grain, and the situation of the soil, will admit; and, 2. To place every seed at a proper depth, and distance from each other. Due regard to the former circumstance will be attended with great profit, particularly in the cultivation of turnips; as an early harvest will not only thus be obtained ”

“ Then comes a trial of patience, and as the seedlings appear at intervals, the wisdom of thin sowing will be apparent, for each one can be lifted and potted as it becomes ready, without wasting the remainder. ”

“ After the sowing the land has to be harrowed, then the young plants are hoed and weeded, generally by the women and children. I have seen the women sitting on stools to do it on account of their poor little bound feet. ”

“ Seed sowing should be practised with exceeding caution; but great things may be done where there are warm, sheltered, dry borders, and suitable appliances for screening and forwarding early crops. Under these favourable conditions, we advise the sowing of small breadths of a few choice subjects towards the end of the month; and, this being done, every care should be taken to nurse the seedlings through the trying times that are before them. Such things as tender young Radishes, Onions, small Salads, Spinach, Cabbage, and Carrots never come in too early ”

“ When the ground is smooth and impacted on the surface, it is considered preferable to defer sowing until the ground is dry enough to admit of covering the seed with the harrow. When deposited at the same time as spring-sown nurse crops, and with these, the time of sowing will be determined by the most suitable time for sowing the nurse crop. This plant may be sown under certain conditions as late in the spring as moisture exists in the soil sufficient to produce vigorous germination in the seed. ”

“ Nature herself who all created first,
Invented sowing, and the wild plants nurs’t:
When mast and berries from the trees did drop,
Succeeded under by a numerous crop.4:1
Yet this is to be consider’d, that if the place you sow in be too cold for an autumnal semination, your acorns, mast, and other seeds may be prepared for the vernal by being barrel’d, or potted up in moist sand, or earth stratum s.s. during the winter; at the expiration whereof you will find them sprouted; and being committed to the earth, with a tender hand, as apt to take as if they had been sown with the most early ”

“ The best method of sowing is, to draw parallel lines over the bed, at two feet and a half distance, into which the seeds are dropped about two inches asunder, and the mould drawn over them to the depth of an inch, with the head of a rake. ”

“ In any given spot of the field there may be sowing in spring, and yet no reaping in harvest. If there is no sowing, there will be no reaping; but the converse does not hold good; you cannot say, wherever there has been sowing, it will be followed by a reaping. The seed may be carried away by wild birds, or wither on stony ground, or be choked by thorns. “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.”
3. The growth of the sown seed is secret; secret also is its failure. It is quite true, there may be grace in the heart of a neighbour unseen, unsuspected by me ”

“ The ideal conditions of warm soil, mellow, moist soil of just the right consistency; protection from changes of weather all make for a high per cent of plants from the sowing, and the chief difficulty is often an embarrassment of plants—that is they come up too thickly, a trouble that is easily obviated by sowing quite thinly, holding back a portion of the seed for later sowings if needed, or for a later crop. ”

“ Rather than delay planting, however, it is better to risk the lessened vitality of last year’s seed—sowing somewhat more generously as an offset. Sow as thinly as possible in the cold-frame or a spent hotbed, in drills two inches apart, drawing the earth from the sides of the drills and pressing it down with the board. The drills should run lengthwise of the bed from east to west, and each variety should be distinctly labelled with name and date of sowing. After sowing water well with the rubber sprinkler, cover with newspapers, and protect the bed with lath screens. ”

“ It is the magnificent possibilities, the vast fecundity of those sixpences, as compared with the others, which is the real point. Not one plant, but dozens of plants, often hundreds of plants, may be the result of a single successful sowing, nor is the time lost by such sowings nearly as great as people seem to imagine. ”

“ Dry weather is essentially requisite for sowing, and more especially for the operation of covering in the seed, which in broad-cast sowing, is done by treading or gently rolling the surface, and then raking it ”

“ Spring sowing should be done just as soon as the frost is out of the ground. [Pg 27] This early sowing gives the young grass a chance to establish itself before the severe summer heat comes on. Careful watering is necessary, with a fine spray, and if regularly done will induce rapid germination. In watering do not wash out the seed by too heavy a stream. ”

“ For the general crop a second sowing may be made of the finest Red and White varieties, also on a mild hot-bed, in the second week of March, and have treatment similar to the first, but once pricking out into the open bed will be sufficient, the largest plants being put out first at six inches, and to have shelter if needful ”

“ I shall detail the mode by which the land is prepared for sowing, and the process of sowing, in Buckinghamshire, on clover ley, the most troublesome for the purpose:—
Farm-yard manure being spread upon the surface, wheel ploughs drawn by three powerful horses are set to work to plough the land in the usual British way. In wide lands or stitches, after the sod has been turned and laid at an angle of forty-five degrees, the seed is sometimes then sown and harrowed down. ”

“ Let the sowing in moist places be performed quickly, the reason is that the seed may not putrefy with the wet: more slowly in dry ground, that the rain may follow, lest it should lie too long, and not be able to germinate. ”

“ This practice gives good results if the pomace is finely broken, and it is now common among nurserymen.
In loose and well-drained soils, sowing is undoubtedly best performed in the fall, just as early as the seeds are ready. But upon land which holds much water, and which heaves with frost or contains much clay, spring sowing is preferable. In spring, the seeds should be sown just as soon as the ground can be worked.
If the stocks are to be cultivated with a horse, the rows should be three or three and a half feet apart. Some growers sow in narrow drills and some in broad ones. ”

“ Rotation husbandry also distributes the labour of the farm over the year. After harvest the farmyard manure is carted on to the land. This is followed by wheat sowing. In the winter there is the stock to be fed. The spring brings barley sowing, the early summer the cleaning of the land for the roots. ”

“ Early and late sowing: Three plots are required. Plant the same amount of seed in each and cover to the same depth. Plant No. 1 as early as the soil can be made ready; No. 2, two weeks later; and No. 3, two weeks later than No. 2. Compare the quality and the yield.
6. Effect of sowing clover with grain the first year: Only two plots are required. Sow the same amount of [Pg 272] wheat or oats on each plot. On one plot put a moderate supply of red clover and none on the other. Weigh (or estimate) , as in Experiment 3 above, the straw and the grain produced on each. ”

“ In the sowing of open crops, care should also be taken to sow at the proper time. Very early sowing is generally hazardous, but yet, if you would have your crops come in soon, a little risk must be run. When seed is sown in the open ground, it requires watching, and this particularly applies to such crops as early potatoes or beans. ”

“ The necessity of sowing such vegetables has, however, been in a great measure superseded by the general adoption of the drill, and horse-hoeing husbandry, by which all weeds are totally eradicated, and consequently they will not obstruct the growth of the corn or other grain that may be sown.—See Drilling. ”

“ Where sowing but a small quantity of each variety of seed, the flats will be found much more convenient than sowing directly in the soil--and in the case of their use, of course, the soil on top of the manure need be but two or three inches deep and not especially prepared. ”

“ In the following monthly notes, our principal object is to offer a series of reminders which will insure the sowing of various flower seeds and the planting of bulbs at their proper periods, and thus save the disappointment of losing some important display for a whole season. Those who have command of large resources will sow certain seeds a month earlier than we recommend, and their intimate knowledge and abundant facilities justify their practice. ”

“ Method of Sowing.—It will always pay to sow in flat drills about six inches wide, but the V-shaped drill in which the seedlings are generally crowded injuriously is not satisfactory. Two inches apart each way is a useful distance for the seed, although more space may be given for the robust-growing maincrop and late varieties. It is wise policy, however, to sow liberally in case of losses through climatic conditions, birds or mice; and if necessary superfluous plants can always be withdrawn. ”

“ There’s no Doubt, but that one third Part of the Nourishment raised by Dung and Tillage, given to Plants or Corn at many proper Seasons, and apportion’d to the different Times of their Exigencies, will be of more Benefit to a Crop, than the Whole apply’d, as it commonly is, only at the time of Sowing. ”

“ To help still more, sow the seed two ways, one at right angles to the other. After sowing, rake lightly and then finish the work by putting a heavy roller over it.
While thick sowing has the advantage of discouraging a growth of weeds, there is a limit that cannot be safely passed. Seed too thickly sown will mat and damp out, leaving great patches on the lawn. ”