[85] “Shortly after the plant appears above ground it commences to throw out new and distinct stems, upon the first appearance of which a correspondent root-bud is developed for its support; and while the new stems grow out flat over the surface of the soil, their respective roots assume a corresponding development beneath it. This process, called ‘tillering,’ will continue until the season arrives for the stems to assume an upright growth.” The less the roots have been interfered with by overcrowding the better will be the ears (Major Hallett, “Thin Seeding,” etc.). [86] Paper on “Thin Seeding and the Selection of Seed,” read before the Midland Farmers’ Club, 4th June, 1874. [87] “Pedigree Cereals,” 1889. Paper on “Thin Seeding,” etc., just mentioned. Abstracts from _The Times_, etc., 1862. Major Hallett contributed, moreover, several papers to the _Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society_, and one to _The Nineteenth Century_. [88] _Agricultural Gazette_, 3rd January, 1876. Ninety ears, some of which contained as many as 132 grains each, were also obtained in New Zealand. [89] It appears from many different experiments (mentioned in Prof. Garola’s excellent work, _Les Céréales_, Paris, 1892) that when tested seeds (of which no more than 6 per cent. are lost on sowing) are sown broadcast, to the amount of 500 seeds per square metre (a little more than one square yard), _only 148 of them give plants_. Each plant gives in such case from two to four stems and from two to four ears; but nearly 360 seeds are entirely lost. When sown in rows, the loss is not so great, but it is still considerable. [90] See Prof. Garola’s remarks on “Hallett’s Wheat,” which, by the way, seems to be well known to farmers in France and Germany (_Les Céréales_, p. 337). [91] Besides, Hallett’s wheat must not be sown later than the first week of September. Those who may try experiments with planted wheat must be especially careful to make the experiments in open fields, not in a back garden, and to sow early. [92] Upon this method of selecting seeds opinions are, however, at variance amongst agriculturists. [93] The straw was eighty-three and seventy-seven cwts. per acre in the first case; fifty-nine and forty-nine cwts. in the second case (Garola, _Les Céréales_). In his above-mentioned paper on “Thin Seeding,” Major Hallett mentions a crop at the rate of 108 bushels to the acre, obtained by planting nine inches apart. [94] L. Grandeau, _Etudes agronomiques_, 3^e série, 1887-1888, p. 43. This series is still continued by one volume every year. [95] On one of these photographs one sees that in a soil improved by chemical manure only, seventeen stems from each grain are obtained; with organic manure added to the former, twenty-five stems were obtained.