Many Hundredfold On the subject of wheat I wrote the
other day of a yield of two- hundred fold. This, of course, is very much above the average, especially since modem drilling of wheat rather discourages free tillering. The biggest yields are secured from a generous sowing. Nevertheless it remains that in the English climate, where the plant may have ten months of life, one grain may be made to produce a great deal more than two hundred. An interesting experiment is recorded in that wonder- ful, I hope not forgotten book, Fields, Factories and Workshops, by Prince Kropotkin, a great pioneer. By sowing the seed in a shallow pit and progressively earthing it up a forest of straws grew up each with a tolerable ear. Intensive methods (though generally not worth while because too wasteful in labour) can produce results that seem next door to impossible in the eyes of the extensive farmer.
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