A thick stand in early spring is no
assurance to the dry-farmer of a good harvest. On the contrary, it
is usually the field with a thin stand in spring that stands up best
through the summer and yields most at the time of harvest. The
quantity of seed sown should vary with the soil conditions: the more
fertile the soil is, the more seed may be used; the more water in
the soil, the more seed may be sown; as the fertility or the water
content diminishes, the amount of seed should likewise be
diminished. Under dry-farm conditions the fertility is good, but the
moisture is low. As a general principle, therefore, light seeding
should be practiced on dry-farms, though it should be sufficient to
yield a crop that will shade the ground well. 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. If the winters are mild and well covered with snow, less
seed may be used than in districts where severe or open winters
cause a certain amount of winter-killing.
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