SOWING AND SOWING-MACHINES. Sowing is the deposition in the ground of the seeds of cultivated plants, and while agriculture was yet in a rude condition, was always performed by scattering the seeds from the hand over the prep tred surface of the soil. This mode, distinguish:A as hand-sowing. is still -employed in the I thrill:mils and in gar den husbandry; but in the more extensive operations of the farm. it has been very much superseded by the use of sowing-machines of various kinds—the broadcast sowin7; machine, the drilling-machine. and the illbbliag-in whine: the first being employed excl•4vvly fur eeren1;1 and grasses, the other two for any kind of crop. The prepara tio.1 of the soil for the reception of the seed consists in the thorough removal from it, or destruction, of weeds; in its redection to AS fine at state of division as possible by means of the plow. grtibl•r, harrow, and roller, mid in the application of the fitting manures. Attention must also be paid to the swirl to be sown, that it lie. mature, unmixed. and each seed perfect in itself. A frequent cliang.e of seed from different soils and climates is beneficial. Strong, vigorous seed shoald he ur id. Imperfection of seed can be reme died by "steeping" the seed previous to sowing it. The "steeps" employed NIT of two sorts, acid and alkaline; the former acting directly oil the fungoid sporoles and the bruised grains, and destroying their vitality; the latter converting the. QUA-omit ter -which • attaches the sporttles to the grains into soap, and so detaching them by the aid of a little stirring. Of the acid steeps, blue vitriol or ..ulphate of copper (S0,0110+5110) in the proportion 11). to 1 lb. to as inuelt water as will cover 4 bushels of grain, is the best of all steeps. and is the one most commonly employed; the others are crag vitriol or sul phate of iron Fe0 7110). anti various arsenical preparations. The nlkaline steeps, which are inferior to the former, being more limited and less certain in their action. ars' putrid urine, lime-water of maxim ant stixingth, :mud Glauber's salts or sulphide of soda. After the seed has been steeped, it ought to be spread out on a floor in thin layers to dry, after which it should be at muce sown.
Cereetig —As above mentioned, cereals may be sown either broadcast. drilled, or dib bled. If din first method is to he adopted. the land receives what is called the seed furrow ; or if rough. it gets a single stripe with the harrows. and the seed is then sown either by hand or by the broadcast machine. This machine consists of it frame with the anex to the front, supperted on three wheels, and carrying along wooden box of the form of it triangular prism, set With a fiat side—the lid—uppermost. This box, which is placed at right angles to the line of draft, is furnished with a row of small boles at the Dottom, about 7 in. apart; and a little above this row is placed a longitudinal spindle, carrying at set of hard circular brushes, one opposite each hole, and deriving a rotatory motion from the axle of the hind wheels. The size of the apertures
can be adjusted to the desired quantity of seed per acre, by means of a movable plate outside provided with holes corresponding to those of the box. When the box is sup plied with seed, and the machine set in inotioa, the grain drops through the holes, which are kept from clogging by the rapid rotation of the brushes. The box is inade of such a length (10 to 20 fta that 30 to 35 acres may be sown in a day. The seed is then. covered by harrowing. This machine was much used in Scotland, being rather beam silted to hilly and uneven surfaces, and, from its more rapid executitin, to a climate which more frequently interferes nitli agricultural operations, In England, where the climate-is more favorable, and the surface more level, the drilling-machine is the favor ite. So it is now in Scotland, where the amount of seed deposited by drilling has increased immensely during the last 10 years. Even in the far inland glens, drill machines are rather growing in popularity. The land is prepared for sowing by as complete pulverization as possible, and its surface is made quite even by the harrow and roller. The drill which, in the arrangement of sonic of its essential p.irts, corresponds to the broadcast-machine, differs from it in being furnished with a set of coulters. which are hollowed behind to inclose the lower ends of at corresponding set of tin tubes, who-e upper ends are fixed opposite to the holes in the seed-box. By this machine, a series of furrows of uniform depth are made by the coukers; into these furrows the seed is con veyed by means of the tin tubes. The modern drill-machine covers the seed most mud formly. The harrowing is generally completed before drilling begins. The spindle inside the seed-box is provided with grooved cylinders or pinions in place of brushes, and the seed rows are generally made from 4 to 10 in. apart. The advantages of this machine over the fornier consist in the greater regularity of deposition of the seed, which admits of hoeing and other clearing operations during the early period of growth; in the uniform depth at which the seed is planted, so that none of it is lost by being bnried, while it is all covered; in the protection of the operation from the disturbing influence of winds; in the saving of seed and greater yield of grain, it being often found that if drilled seed be to broadcast, in quantity, as 2 to 3, their respective yields are nearly as 5 to 4: in the free access of sun and air during growth; and in the less liability of the crop to "lodge" flat at the root. But it has one disadvantage; an ordinary drill cannot sow more than 10 to 12 acres per day, and employs more men and horses than the broadcast-machine. From 2 to 3 bushels of seed per acre suffices with 'the drill, whereas front 3 to 4 is necessary with the broadcast machine, and from 5 to 6 bushels with the hand. The great saving of seed and other advantages thus fully atone for the extra work involved by the drill.