Chapter IV: Preface (4)

In wide Intervals, those Roots are broken off only where they are small; for tho’ they are capable of running out to more than the Length of the external Parts of a Plant; yet ’tis not necessary they should always do so; if they can have sufficient Food nearer to the Bodies[57] of the Plants.

[57] All the Mould is never so near to the Bodies of Plants, as ’tis
when the Row stands on a high Six-feet Ridge, when the middle of the
Interval is left bare of Earth, at the last Hoeing; for then all the
Mould may be but about a Foot, or a Foot and half, distant from the
Body of each Plant of a Treble Row.

And these new, young, multiply’d Roots are fuller of Lacteal Mouths than the older ones; which makes it no Wonder, that Plants should thrive faster by having some of their Roots broken off by the Hoe; for as Roots do not enter every Pore of the Earth, but miss great Part of the Pasture, which is left unexhausted, so when new Roots strike out from the broken Parts of the old, they meet with that Pasture, which their Predecessors miss’d, besides that new Pasture which the Hoe raises for them; and those Roots which the Hoe pulls out without breaking, and covers again, are turn’d into a fresh Pasture; some broken, and some unbroken: All together invigorate the Plants.

Besides, the Plants of sown Corn, being treble in Number to those of the drill’d, and of equal Strength and Bulk, whilst they are very young, must exhaust the Earth whilst it is open, thrice as much as the drill’d Plants do; and before the sown Plants grow large, the Pores of the Earth are shut against them, and against the Benefit of the Atmosphere; but for the drill’d, the Hoe gives constant Admission to that Benefit; and if the Hoe procures them (by dividing the Earth) Four Times the Pasture of the sown during their Lives, and the Roots devour but one half of that, then tho’ the ho’d Crop should be double to the sown, yet it might leave twice as much _Pabulum_ for a succeeding Crop. ’Tis impossible to bring these Calculations to Mathematical Rules; but this is certain in Practice, that a sown Crop, succeeding a large undung’d ho’d Crop, is much better than a sown Crop, that succeeds a small dung’d sown Crop. And I have the Experience of poor, worn out Heath-ground, that, having produc’d Four successive good ho’d Crops of Potatoes (the last still best), is become tolerable good Ground.

In a very poor Field were planted Potatoes, and, in the very worst Part of it, several Lands had them in Squares a Yard asunder; these were plowed four ways at different times: Some other Lands adjoining to them, of the very same Ground, were very well dung’d and till’d; but the Potatoes came irregularly, in some Places thicker, and in others thinner: These were not ho’d, and yet, at first coming up, looked blacker and stronger than those in Squares not dung’d, either that Year, or ever, that I know of; yet these Lands brought a good Crop of the largest Potatoes, and very few small ones amongst them; but in the dung’d Lands, for Want of Hoeing, the Potatoes were not worth the taking up; which proves, that in those Plants that are planted so as to leave Spaces wide enough for Repetitions of Hoeing, that Instrument can raise more Nourishment to them, than a good Coat of Dung with common Tillage.

Another Thing I have more particularly observ’d, _viz._ That the more successive Crops are planted in wide Intervals, and often ho’d, the better the Ground does maintain them; the last Crop is still the best, without Dung, or changing the Sort of Plant; and this is visible in Parts of the same Field, where some Part has a first, some other Part a second, the rest a third Crop growing all together at the same time; which seems to prove, that as the Earth is made by this Operation to dispense or distribute her Wealth to Plants, in Proportion to the Increase of her inner Superficies (which is the Pasture of Plants); so the Atmosphere, by the Riches in Rain and Dews, does annually reimburse her in Proportion to the same Superficies, with an Overplus for Interest: But if that Superficies be not increased to a competent Degree, and, by frequent Repetitions of Hoeing, kept increasing (which never happens in common Husbandry) this Advantage is lost; and, without often repeated Stercoration, every Year’s Crop grows worse; and it has been made evident by Trials, which admit of no Dispute, that Hoeing, without Dung or Fallow, can make such Plants as stand in wide Intervals, more vigorous in the same Ground, than both common Dunging and Fallowing can do without Hoeing.

This Sort of Hoeing has in Truth every Year the Effect of a Summer-fallow; tho’ it yearly produce a good Crop.

This is one Reason of the different Effects Plants have upon the Soil; some are said to enrich it, others to burn it, _i. e._ to impoverish it; but I think it may be observed, that all those Plants, which are usually ho’d, are reckoned among the Enrichers; and tho’ it be certain that some Species of Plants are, by the Heat of their Constitution, greater Devourers than those of another Species of equal Bulk; yet there is Reason to believe, that were the most cormorant Plant of them all to be commonly ho’d, it would gain[58] the Reputation of an Enricher or Improver of the Soil; except it should be such, as might occasion Trouble, by filling it full of its shatter’d Seeds, which might do the Injury of Weeds to the next Crop; and except such Plants, which have a vast Bulk to be maintained a long Time, as Turnep-Seed[59].

[58] But this must be intended of the deep Horse-hoeing; for Turneps
that stand for Seed, are such Devourers, and feed so long on the
Soil, that tho’ they are Hand-ho’d, such a shallow Operation doth not
supply the usual Thickness of those Plants with Pasture sufficient
to raise their Stems to half their natural Bulk; and they leave so
little of that Pasture behind them, that the Soil is observ’d to be
extremely impoverished for a Year or two, and sometimes three Years
after them; but ’tis otherwise with my Horse-ho’d Turnep-Seed; for
I never fail’d of a good Crop of Barley after it, sown on the Level
in the following Spring, tho’ no Dung hath been used on the Land
where the Turnep-Seed grew for many Years. And also my Barley Crops
thus sown after two successive Crops of Turnep-Seed without a Fallow
between them, are as good as those sown after a single Crop of it.
For I have several Times made these Turnep-Seed Crops annual, that
is, to have Two Crops of it in Two Years, which would in the old Way
require three Years, because this Crop stands about a Year on the
Ground, and is not ripe till Midsummer, which is too late to get
that Land into a Tilth proper to plant another Seed Crop on it the
same Summer; neither can the Soil be able to bear such another Crop
immediately after being so much exhausted, and unplowed for a whole
Year, except it be extraordinary rich, or much dunged: However, Two
Crops of Turnep-Seed immediately succeeding one another, is what I
never knew, or heard of, except my own that were Horse-ho’d; and of
these the second Crop was as good as the first; their Stalks grew
much higher than they usually do in the common Way; and tho’ the
Number of Plants was much less, their Produce was so valuable, that
the _Vicar’s Agent_ declared, he made Twenty Shillings _per_ Acre of
his Tythe of a whole Field which he tythed in Kind. The Expence of
these Crops was judg’d to be answered by the Fuel of the thresh’d
Stalks. It must be noted, that the extraordinary Value of these Crops
arose, not from a greater Quantity of Seed than some common Crops;
but from their Quality, Experience having brought this Seed into
great Esteem, on account of its being perfectly clean, and produced
by large Turneps of a good Sort, and of a proper Shape; for those
that are not well cultivated are very apt to degenerate, and then
their Seed will produce Turneps of a small Size, and of a long rapy
ill Shape.

[59] Turneps run to Seed, not till the second Summer.

The wider the Intervals are, the more Earth may be divided; for the Row takes up the same Room with a wide, or a narrow Interval; and therefore with the wide, the unho’d Part bears a less Proportion to the ho’d Part than in the narrow.

And ’tis no Purpose to hoe, where there is not Earth to be ho’d, or Room to hoe it in.

There are many Ways of Hoeing with the Hoe-Plough; but there is not Room to turn Two deep clean Furrows in an Interval that is narrower than Four Feet Eight Inches; for if it want much of this Breadth, one, at least, of these Furrows, will reach, and fall upon the next Row, which will be very injurious to the Plants; except of grown St. Foin, and such other Plants, that can bear to have the Earth pull’d off them by Harrows.

Thus much of Hoeing in general may suffice: And different Sorts of Plants requiring different Management; that may more properly be described in the Chapter, where particular Vegetables are treated of.

It may not be amiss to add, that all Sorts of Land are not equally proper for Hoeing: I take it, that a dry friable Soil is the best. Intractable wet Clays, and such Hills as are too steep for Cattle to draw a Plough up and down them, are the most improper[60].

[60] For by hoeing cross the Hill, the Furrow turn’d against the
Declivity cannot be thrown up near enough to the Row above it; and
the Furrow that is turn’d downwards will bury the Row below it.

That ’tis not so beneficial to hoe in Common-fields, is not in Respect of the Soil, but to the old Principles, which have bound the Owners to unreasonable Customs of changing the Species of Corn, and make it necessary to fallow every Second, Third, or Fourth Year at farthest.

CHAP. VII.

_Of_ WEEDS.

Plants, that come up in any Land, of a different Kind from the sown or planted Crop, are Weeds.

That there are in Nature any such things as _inutiles Herbæ_, the Botanists deny; and justly too, according to their Meaning.

But the Farmer, who expects to make Profit of his Land from what he sows or plants in it, finds not only _Herbæ inutiles_, but also _noxiæ_, unprofitable and hurtful Weeds; which come like _Muscæ_, or uninvited Guests, that always hurt, and often spoil his Crop, by devouring what he has, by his Labour in Dunging and Tilling, provided for its Sustenance.

All Weeds, as such, are pernicious; but some much more than others; some do more Injury, and are more easily destroy’d; some do less Injury, and are harder to kill; others there are, which have both these bad Qualities. The hardest to kill are such as will grow and propagate by their Seed, and also by every Piece of their Roots, as Couch-grass, Coltsfoot, Melilot, Fern, and such-like. Some are hurtful only by robbing legitimate (or sown) Plants of their Nourishment, as all Weeds do; others both lessen a legitimate Crop by robbing it, and also spoil that Crop, which escapes their Rapine, when they infect it with their nauseous Scent and Relish, as Melilot, wild Garlick, _&c._

Weeds starve the sown Plants, by robbing them of their Provision of Food[61], not of their Room (as some Authors vainly imagine); which will appear by the following Experiment.

[61] A Tree of any Sort will spoil Corn all round it, in a large
Circle; half an Acre of Turneps has been spoil’d by one: Hereby ’tis
plain, that Trees rob as Weeds; because ’tis not by their Shadow,
there being as much Damage done by them on the South-Side, where
their Shadow never comes, as on their North-Side: Nor can it be by
their dropping; for ’tis the same on the Side where a Tree has no
Boughs to drop over the Plants, when they are also at a very great
Distance from all Parts of the Tree, except its Roots.

Let three Beds of the same Soil, equal, and equally prepared, be sown with the same Sort of Corn. Let the first of these Beds be kept clean from Weeds: In the Second, let a Quantity of Weeds grow along with the Corn; and in the Third, stick up a Quantity of dead Sticks, greater in Bulk than the Weeds.

It will be found, that the Produce of the Corn in the First will not exceed that of the Third Bed; but in the Second, where the Weeds are, the Corn will be diminish’d in Proportion to the Quantity of Weeds amongst it.

The Sticks, having done no Injury to the Corn, shew there was room enough in the Bed for Company to lodge, would they forbear to eat; or else (like Travellers in _Spain_) bring their Provision with them to their Inn, or (which would be the same thing) if Weeds could find there some Dish so disagreeable to the Palate of the Corn, and agreeable to their own, that they might feed on it without robbing; and then they would be as innocent as the Sticks, which take up the same Room with the Weeds.

The Quantity of Nourishment Weeds rob the Corn of, is not in Proportion only to their Number and Bulk, but to the Degrees of Heat in their Constitution; as appears by the Instance of Charlock and Turneps, mention’d in the Chapter _Of Change of Species_.

’Tis needless to go about to compute the Value of the Damage Weeds do, since all experienc’d Husbandmen know it to be very great, and would unanimously agree to extirpate their whole Race as intirely, as in _England_ they have done the Wolves, tho’ much more innocent, and less rapacious than Weeds[62].

[62] If we consider the Crops they utterly destroy, and those they
extremely diminish; and that very few Crops escape without receiving
Injury from them; it may be a Question, whether the Mischief Weeds
do to our Corn, is not as great as the Value of the Rent of all the
Arable Lands in _England_.

But alas! they find it impossible to be done, or even to be hoped for, by the common Husbandry; and the Reasons I take to be these.

The Seeds of most Sorts of Weeds are so hardy, as to lie sound and uncorrupt for many Years[63], or perhaps Ages in the Earth; and are not kill’d until they begin to grow or sprout, which very few of them do, unless the Land be plow’d; and then enough of them will ripen amongst the sown Crop, to propagate and continue their Species, by shedding their Off-spring in the Ground (for ’tis observ’d they are generally ripe before the Corn); and the Seeds of these do the same in the next sown Crop; and thus perpetuate their savage, wicked[64] Brood, from Generation to Generation.

[63] The Seeds of _Lethean Poppy_ (call’d _Red-weed_) have lain
dormant 24 Years (the Land being, during that time, in _St. Foin_)
and then at first Plowing they came up very thick; this I have seen,
and so will many other Sorts of Weeds, when the Ground has lain
untill’d for an Age.

[64] The _French_ call them, _les Herbes Sauvages, & les mechantes
Herbes_.

Besides, their Seeds never all come up in one Year, unless the Land be very often plow’d; for they must have their exact Depth, and Degrees of Moisture and Heat, to make them grow; and such as have not these, will lie in the Ground, and retain their vegetative Virtue for Ages; and the common usual Plowings, not being sufficient to make them all, or the greatest Part, grow, almost every Crop that ripens increases the Stock of Seed, until it make a considerable Part of the Staple of such Land as is sown without good Tillage and Fallowing.

The best Defence against these Enemies, which the Farmer has hitherto found, is to endeavour their Destruction by a good Summer-fallow: This indeed, if the Weather be propitious, does make Havock of them; but still some will escape one Year’s Prosecution. Either by being sometimes situate so high, that the Sun’s Heat dries them, or sometimes lying so deep, that it cannot reach them; either way their Germination, which would have proved their Death, is prevented.

Another Faculty secures abundance of them, and that is, their being able to endure the Heat and Moisture of one Year without growing; as[65] wild Oats, and innumerable other Sorts of Weeds, will do; for gather these when ripe, sow them in the richest Bed, water them, and do all that is possible to make them grow the First Year, it will be vain Labour; they will resist all Enticements till the Second; that is, if you gather them in Autumn, you cannot force them to grow until the next Spring come Twelve-month; and many of them will remain dormant even to the next Year alter that, and some of them longer.

[65] I have not try’d wild Oats by sowing them in a Bed myself,
but have been so informed by others; and my own Experience hath
frequently shewn me, that they will come up, after lying many Years
in the Ground; and that very few Sorts of Weeds will come all up the
first Year, as Corn doth: If they did, the Tillage of one Year’s
Summer-fallow might extirpate them.

By this Means, One Year’s Summer-Fallow can have no Effect upon them, but to prepare the Soil for their more vigorous Growth and plentiful Increase the next Year after; and very rarely will the Farmer fallow his Land Two Years successively; and often the Dung, which is made of the Straw of sown Corn, being full of the Seeds of Weeds, when spread on the Fallows, incumbers the Soil with another Stock of Weeds, as ample as that the Fallowing has destroy’d; and tho’ perhaps many of these may not grow the next Year, they will be sure to come up afterwards.

The other old Remedy is what often proves worse than the Disease; that is, what they call Weeding among sown Corn; for if by the Hook or Hand they cut some Sorts (as Thistles) while they are young, they will sprout up again, like _Hydras_, with more Heads than before; and if they are cut when full-grown, after they have done almost their utmost in robbing the Crop, ’tis like shutting the Stable-Door after the Steed is stolen.

Hand-weeders often do more Harm to the Corn with their Feet, than they do Good by cutting or pulling out the Weeds with their Hands; and yet I have known this Operation sometimes cost the Farmer Twelve Shillings an Acre; besides the Damage done by treading down his Wheat; and, after all, a sufficient Quantity of them have escaped, to make a too plentiful Increase in the next Crop of Corn.

The new Hoeing-Husbandry in Time will probably make such an utter Riddance[66] of all Sorts of Weeds[67], except such as come in the Air, that[68] as long as this Management is properly continued, there is no Danger to be apprehended from them; which is enough to confute the old Error of equivocal Generation, had it not been already sufficiently exploded, ever since that Demonstration of _Malpighius’s_ Experiment. For if Weeds were brought forth without their proper Seeds, the Hoeing could not hinder their Production, where the Soil was inclined naturally to produce them. The Belief of that blind Doctrine might probably be one of the Causes that made the Antients despair of finding so great Success in Hoeing, as now appears; or else, if they had had true Principles, they might perhaps have invented and improved that Husbandry, and the Instruments necessary to put it in Practice.

[66] A very pernicious, large, perennial Weed, like _Burrage_, with a
blue Flower, infested a Piece of Land, for Time out of Mind: Hoeing
has destroyed it utterly; not one of the Species has been seen in the
Field these Seven Years, tho’ constantly till’d and ho’d.

[67] I have now a Piece of Wheat drill’d early the last Autumn upon
an Hill, fallowed and well pulveriz’d: Part of it was drill’d with
Wheat in double Rows upon the Level Nine Years ago, Horse-ho’d, and
the Partitions thoroughly Hand-ho’d to cleanse out the Poppies, of
which the Land was very full; the other Part of this Piece was never
drilled till this Year: The whole Piece hath not been before this
Winter Horse-ho’d. Now the Partitions of the Part that was never any
Way Ho’d, are so stock’d with Poppies matted together, that unless
they are taken out early in the Spring, they will totally devour the
Rows of Wheat; but in the other Part that was ho’d so long since,
there are now very few Poppies to be seen. Both these Parts have had
several sown Crops of Barley together since, and have lain with _St.
Foin_ these last Five or Six Years.

[68] And except also such Weeds, whose Seed is carried by Birds,
which is the most common Manner of transporting the Seeds of
Vegetables from Field to Field, against the Content of the Owner: For
Birds, whether great or small, do not care to eat their Prey where
they take it, but generally chuse some open Place for that Purpose.
’Tis, I am persuaded, by this Means chiefly, that a Vineyard or
Field, made ever so clean from Grass, will, in lying untilled a few
Years, be replenished with a Turf of that neighbouring Species of
Grass, which best suits the Heat and Moisture of the Soil: Yet there
are some Species of Seeds that Birds (at least such as frequent this
Place) do not affect; else the Burrage-weed (mentioned in _p._ 77.)
would have appeared again in my Field in some of the many Years since
the Hoeing has extirpated it there; for it grows plentifully in the
unplowed Way adjoining thereto.

The Seeds of some Weeds may be suspected to come in the Air; as the
Seed of the Grass that grew in the _Cheapside_, in the Time of the
Plague; but it might come from Seeds in the Dirt, brought thither
by the Feet of People and Cattle, and by the Wheels of Coaches,
Carts carrying Hay: Or otherwise continual Treading might keep it
from Growing; and when the Treading ceased, ’tis no Wonder the Seeds
should furnish the Streets with Grass.

And I have observ’d on the Floors, two Stories high, of a lone,
ruinous, uninhabited House, being long uncover’d, a sort of Herb
growing very thick; I think it was _Pimpernel_, and believe that its
Seeds did not come thither in the Air; but in the Sand which was
mix’d with the Mortar that had fallen from the Cielings; and ’tis
like there were few Seeds at first: Yet, these, ripening for several
Years, shed their Seeds annually, until the Floors became all over
very thick planted: Besides, Hay-seeds and Pimpernel are too heavy to
be carry’d far by the Air.

CHAP. VIII.

_Of_ TURNEPS.

As far as I can be inform’d, ’tis but of late Years that Turneps have been introduc’d as an Improvement in the Field.

All Sorts of Land, when made fine by Tillage, or by Manure and Tillage, will serve to produce Turneps, but not equally; for chalky Land is generally too dry (a Turnep being a thirsty Plant); and they are so long in such dry poor Land before they get into rough Leaf, that the Fly is very apt to destroy them there; yet I have known them succeed on such Land, tho’ rarely.

Sand and Gravel are the most proper Soil for Turneps, because that is most easily pulveriz’d, and its Warmth causeth the Turneps to grow faster, and so they get the sooner out of the Danger of the Fly; and such a Soil, when well-till’d, and Horse-ho’d, never wants a sufficient Moisture, even in the driest Weather; and the Turneps being drill’d will come up without Rain, and prosper very well with the sole Moisture of the Dews, which are admitted as deep as the Pulveration reacheth; and if that be to Five or six Inches, the hottest Sun cannot exhale the Dews thence in the Climate of _England_: I have known Turneps thrive well in a very dry Summer by repeated Horse-hoeings, both in Sand and in Land which is neither sandy nor gravelly.

When I sow’d Turneps by Hand, and ho’d them with a Hand-hoe, the Expence was great, and the Operation not half perform’d, by the Deceitfulness of the Hoers, who left half the Land unho’d, and cover’d it with the Earth from the Part they did hoe, and then the Grass and Weeds grew the faster: Besides, in this Manner a great Quantity of Land could not be managed in the proper Season.

When I drill’d upon the Level[69], at Three Feet Intervals, a Trial was made between those Turneps and a Field of the next Neighbour’s, sown at the same Time, whereof the Hand-hoeing cost Ten Shillings _per_ Acre, and had not quite half the Crop of the drill’d, both being measur’d by the Bushel, on Purpose to find the Difference[70].

[69] ’Tis impossible to hoe-plow them so well when planted upon the
Level, as when they are planted upon Ridges; for if we plow deep near
the Row, the Earth will come over on the Left-Side of the Plough, and
bury the younger Turneps; but when they stand on Ridges, the Earth
will almost all fall down on the Right Side into the Furrow in the
Middle of the Interval.

[70] And I have since found, that Turneps on the same Land, planted
on Ridges, with Six-feet Intervals, make a Crop double to those that
are planted on the Level, or even on Ridges with Three-feet Intervals.

In the new Method they are more certain to come up quickly; because in every Row, half the Seed is planted about Four Inches deep[71]; and the other Half is planted exactly over that, at the Depth of half an Inch, falling in after the Earth has cover’d the first Half: Thus planted, let the Weather be never so dry, the deepest Seed will come up; but if it raineth (immediately after planting), the Shallow will come up first: We also make it come up at Four[72] Times, by mixing our Seed, half new and half old (the new coming up a Day quicker than the old): These four Comings up give it so many Chances for escaping the Fly, it being often seen, that the Seed sown over Night will be destroy’d by the Fly, when that sown the next Morning will escape, and _vice versa_[73]; or you may hoe-plow them, when you see the Fly is like to devour them; this will bury the greatest Part of those Enemies; or else you may drill in another Row, without new-plowing the Land.

[71] Turnep seed will come up from a greater Depth than most other
Sorts of Seeds.

[72] I have seen drill’d Turnep-seed come up daily for a Fortnight
together, when it has not been mixt thus, the old with the new.

[73] I have had the first Turneps that came up all destroy’d by the
Fly; and about a Fortnight afterwards more have come up, and been
ho’d time enough, and made a good Crop.

This Method has also another Advantage of escaping the Fly, the most certain of any other, and infallible, if the Land be made fine, as it ought to be: This is to roll it with a heavy Roller across the Ridges, after ’tis drill’d, which closing up the Cavities of the Earth, prevents the Fly’s Entrance and Exit, to lay the Eggs, hatch, or bring forth the young ones to prey upon the Turneps; which they might intirely devour, if the Fly came before they had more than the first two Leaves, which, being form’d of the very Seed itself, are very sweet; but the next Leaves are rough and bitter, which the Fly does not love: I have always found the Rolling disappoint the Fly; but very often it disappoints the Owner also, who sows at Random; for it makes the Ground so hard, that the Turneps cannot thrive, but look yellow, dwindle, and grow to no Perfection, unless they have a good Hoeing soon after the rough Leaves appear; for when they stand long without it, they will be so poor and stinted, that the Hand-hoe does not go deep enough to recover them; and ’tis seldom that these rolled Turneps can be Hand-ho’d at the critical Time, because the Earth is then become so hard, that the Hoe cannot enter it without great Difficulty, unless it be very moist; and very often the Rain does not come to soak it, until it be too late; but the drill’d Turneps being in single Rows with Six-feet Intervals, may be roll’d without Danger: For be the Ground ever so hard, the Hand-hoe will easily single them out, at the Price of Six-pence per Acre, or less (if not in Harvest); and the Horse-hoe will, in those wide Intervals, plow at any Time, wet or dry; and, tho’ the Turneps should have been neglected till stinted, will go deep enough to recover them to a flourishing Condition.

Drill’d Turneps, by being no-where but in the Rows[74], may be more easily seen than those which come up at Random; and may therefore be sooner[75] singled out by the Hand-hoe; which is another Advantage; because the sooner they are so set out, the better they will thrive[76].

[74] Drill’d Turneps coming all up nearly in a _Mathematical Line_,
’tis very nearly that a Charlock, or other like Weed, comes up in the
same Line amongst them, unless it be drill’d in with the Turnep-seed,
of which Weeds our Horse-ho’d Seed never has any; there being no
Charlock in the Rows, nor any Turnep in the Intervals: We know, that
whatever comes up in the Interval is not a Turnep, though so like to
it, that, at first coming up, if promiscuously, it cannot easily be
distinguished by the Eye, until after the Turneps, _&c._ attain the
rough Leaf; and even then, before they are of a considerable Bigness,
they are so hard to be distinguished by those People, who are not
well experienced, that a Company of _Hand-hoers_ cut out the Turneps
by Mistake, and left the Charlock for a Crop of a large Field of
sown Turneps. Such a Misfortune can never happen to drill’d Turneps,
unless wilfully done, be they set out ever so young.

[75] The sooner they are made single, the better; but yet, when
they are not very thick, they may stand till we have the best
Convenience of singling them without much Damage; but, when they come
up extraordinary thick, ’twill be much more difficult to make them
single, if they are neglected at their very first coming into rough
Leaf.

[76] Because such young Turneps will enjoy the more of the Pasture
made by the Plowing, and by that little Pulveration of the Hand-hoe,
without being robb’d of any Pasture by their own supernumerary Plants.

Three or Four Ounces of Seed is the usual Quantity to drill; but, at random, Three or Four Pounds are commonly sown, which, coming thick all over the Ground, must exhaust the Land more than the other, especially since the sown must stand longer, before the Hoers can see to set them out.

The Six-feet Ridges, whereon Turneps are drill’d in single Rows, may be left higher than for double-row’d Crops; because there will be more Earth in the Intervals, as the single Row takes up less.

There is no prefix’d Time for planting Turneps, because that must be according to the Richness of the Land; for some Land will bring them as forward, and make them as good, when planted the beginning of _August_, as other Land will, when planted in _May_; but the most general Time is, a little before, and a little after _Midsummer_.

Between these Rows of Turneps[77], I have planted Wheat in this Manner; _viz._ About _Michaelmas_, the Turneps being full grown, I plow’d a Ridge in the Middle of each of their Intervals, taking most of the Earth from the Turneps, leaving only just enough to keep them alive; and on this Ridge drill’d my Crop of Wheat[78], and towards the Spring pull’d up my Turneps, and carried them off for Cattle.

[77] As I have formerly drilled Wheat between Rows of Turneps, so I
have since had the Experience of drilling Turneps between Rows of
Barley and Rows of Oats: I have had them in the Intervals between
Six-feet Ridges, and between Four-feet Ridges, and between those of
several intermediate Distances; but which of them all is the best,
I leave at present undetermined. I shall only add, that the poorer
the Land is, the wider the Intervals ought to be; and that, in the
narrow, ’tis convenient at the Hoeing, to leave more Earth on that
Side of each Interval whereon the Turneps are to be drill’d; and this
is done by going round several Intervals with the Hoe-Plough, without
going forwards and backwards in each immediately: But in the wide
Intervals the Earth may be equal on both Sides of them.

I will propose another Method of Drilling, which may be very
advantageous to those who sow their Barley upon the Level, and sow
Turnep-seed amongst it, at Random, as they do Clover; which is, of
late, a common Practice in some Places. The Barley keeps the Turneps
under it, and stints them so much, that they are useful in the Winter
or Spring, chiefly by the Food their _Leaves_ afford to Sheep, their
Roots being exceeding small; and for this small Profit they lose the
Time of tilling the Ground, until after the Turneps are eaten off;
which is a Damage we think greater than the Profit of such Turneps;
To prevent which Damage, they may drill them in Rows at competent
Distances, and Horse-hoe them, and set them out as soon as the Barley
is off: This will both keep the Ground in Tilth, fit for another
Crop of Spring Corn, and cause the Turneps to grow great enough
(especially if Harvest be early, and the Winter prove favourable)
for feeding of Sheep in a moveable Fold to dung the Ground into the
Bargain.

What induces me to propose this Improvement is, that a Gentleman
plows up his Barley-Stubble, and transplants Turneps therein, and
Hand-hoes them with Success. By the proposed Way all the Expence
of transplanting (which must be considerable) will be saved; and
the setting out cannot be more than an Eighth of the Labour of
_Hand-hoeings_; and I conjecture the Horse-hoed Turneps may be as
good; for they (though stinted) having their Tap-roots remaining
unmoved below the Staple of the Land, their horizontal Roots, being
supply’d with Moisture from the Tap-roots, immediately take hold of
the fresh-plowed Earth, as soon as ’tis turned back to them; whereas
the transplanted, having their Tap-roots broken off, and their
Horizontal Roots crumpled in the Holes wherein they are set, must
lose Time, and be in Danger of dying with Thirst, if the Weather
proves dry.

Also this Way seems better than the common Practice of sowing Turneps
upon once plowing after Wheat; because the Wheat-land commonly
lies longer unplow’d by Six or Eight Months than Barley-land; and
therefore cannot be in so good Tilth for Turneps as Barley-land may,
unless the former be of a more friable Nature, or much more dunged,
than the latter. Besides, these Wheat-Turneps are uncertain, in
Respect of the Fly that often destroys them at their first coming up;
which Misfortune happened the Autumn 1734 to almost all that were
sown in that Manner.

I have observ’d, that Barley sown on the Level, and not hoed,
overcomes the Turneps that come up amongst it; but that Turneps,
which come up in the Partitions of Treble Rows of my Ridges of
Horse-hoed Barley, grew so vigorously as to overcome the Barley. And
this was demonstrated at Harvest in a long Field, one Side of which
had borne Turnep-seed, and the drilled Ridges of Barley crossing the
Middle of it; and both Ends of the Field having Barley sown on the
Level, one End of every Ridge cross’d the Turnep-seed Part of the
Field for about Ten Perches of their Length.

I observed also, that the Turneps near the Edges of the Lands of sown
Barley, adjoining to the hoed Intervals, grew large, but not so large
as those in the Partitions on the Ridges, their Intervals being hoed
on each Side of them.

But different from this have I seen shattered Turnep-seed coming up
in the like Partitions of drilled Wheat, on the very same Sort of
Land, so miserably poor and stinted, that they scarce grew a Hand’s
Breadth high, when those Turneps which the Hoe left in the Sides of
the Intervals, and at the narrow Edges of the unhoed Earth of the
Interval Sides of the Rows of Wheat, grew large; and the Wheat was
good also: But I do not remember how the middle Row of it succeeded.

This last Experience of the Turneps among the Wheat was got by this
Accident: The Wheat was drilled after drilled Turneps on Ridges of a
different Size. The Turneps were all pulled up before the Ground was
plowed for the Wheat; but as Turnep-seed never comes _all_ up the
first Year, enough remained of this to come up (though thinly) in the
Wheat, to shew exactly where every Row had been drilled; whereupon
the Observation was made.

[78] This Wheat, being thus drill’d on the new Ridges made in the
Intervals, betwixt the Rows of Turneps, being well Horse-ho’d in the
Spring, prov’d a very good Crop; it was drill’d in treble Rows, the
Partitions Seven Inches each.

When Turneps are planted too late, to have Time and Sun for attaining to their full Bulk, some drill a double Row on each Six-feet Ridge, with a Partition of Fourteen Inches; but I am told, that in this double Row the Turneps do not, even at that late Season, grow so large, as those planted at the same time in single Rows, tho’ the double Row requires double the Expence in setting out; and there will be less Earth ho’d by the Breadth of fourteen Inches of the deepest Part of the Ridge, and consequently the Land will be the less improv’d for the next Crop. We need not to be very exact, in the Number[79] or Distance[80] we set them out at; we contrive to leave the Master-turneps (when there is much Difference in them), and spare such when near one another, and leave the more Space before and behind them; but if they be Three Master-turneps too near together, we take out the middlemost.

[79] The least Number will be the largest Turneps; yet we should have
a competent Stock, which I think is not less than Thirty on a square
Perch.

[80] The Distance need not to be regular; for when a Turnep has Six
Inches of Room on one Side, and Eighteen Inches on the other Side,
’tis almost as well as if there was one Foot on each Side: tho’ then
it would be equally distant from the Two Turneps betwixt which it
stood.

Turneps that were so thick as to touch one another when half-grown, by means of well Hoeing their wide Intervals, have afterwards grown to a good Bigness, and by thrusting against one another became oval, instead of round.

’Tis beneficial to hoe Turneps (especially the first Time) alternately; _viz._ to hoe every other Interval, and throw the Earth back again before we hoe the other Intervals; for by this Means the Turneps are kept from being[81] stinted: ’Tis better to have Nourishment given them moderately at twice, than to have it all once, and be twice as long before a Repetition[82].

[81] Because this alternate Hoeing doth not at all endanger the
Roots by being dried by the Sun; for whilst one half of the Roots
have Moisture, ’tis sufficient; the other Half will be supplied from
those; so that they will soon take hold of the Earth again after
being moved by the Hoe.

[82] Sometimes, when Turneps are planted late, this alternate Hoeing
suffices without any Repetition; but when they are planted early,
’twill be necessary to hoe them again; especially if Weeds appear.

Tho’ the Earth on each Side the Row be left as narrow as possible[83]; yet ’tis very profitable to hoe that little with a _Bidens_[84], called here a Prong-hoe[85]; for this will be sure to let out all the Roots into the Intervals; even such as run very nearly parallel to the Rows.

[83] I do not think that we can go nearer to the Plants with
the Hoe-plough, than within Three Inches of their Bodies.

[84] We ought not to use the _Bidens_ for this Purpose, before the
perpendicular Roots are as big as one’s little Finger.

[85] Some of these Prong-hoes have Three Teeth, and are reckoned
better as a _Tridens_ than a _Bidens_; but this is only in mellow
Ground.

This alternate Way of Hoeing Plants that grow in single Rows, is of such vast Advantage, that four of these, which are but equal to Two of the _whole_ Hoeings in Labour, are near equal to four _whole_ Hoeings in Benefit; for when one Side is well nourished, the other Side cannot be starv’d[86].

[86] But yet sometimes the Weeds, or other Circumstances, may make it
proper to give them a _whole_ Hoeing at first.

Besides, where a great Quantity of Turneps are to be ho’d, the last ho’d may be stinted, before the first are finish’d by _whole_ Hoeings.

In this alternate Hoeing, the Hoe-plough may go deeper[87] and nearer to the Row, without Danger of thrusting it down on the Left Side, whilst the Plants are very small; because the Earth on the other Side of the Row always bears against it for its Support: But in the _whole_ Hoeing, there is an open Furrow left the first Time on both Sides of the Row, and there is Danger of throwing it into one Furrow in plowing the other; or, if the Row is not thrown down, it may be too much dry’d in hot Weather, by the Two Furrows lying too long open: Yet, when the Turneps are large before Hoeing, we need not fear either of these Dangers in giving them a _whole_ Hoeing; as I have found by Experience, even when there has been left on each Side of the Row only about Three Inches Breadth of Earth; tho’ it is not best to suffer it to lie long open[88].

[87] This deep Plowing so near to the Row is very beneficial at
first; but afterwards, when the Plants are grown large, and have sent
their Roots far into the Intervals, it would almost totally disroot
them; and they, being Annuals, might not live long enough for a new
Stock of Roots to extend so far as is necessary to bring the Turneps
to their full Bigness.

_Note_, At the last Hoeing we generally leave a broad, deep Trench in
the middle of each Interval.

[88] But, if the Weather prove wet, we always suffer those Furrows to
lie open, until the Earth be dry enough to be turn’d back again to
the Row, without smearing or flicking together; unless such Weather
continue so long that the Weeds begin to come up, and then we throw
back the Furrows to stifle the Weeds, before they grow large, tho’
the Earth be wet.

Dry Weather does not injure Turneps when Horse-ho’d, as it does sown Turneps; the Hand-hoe does not go deep enough to keep the Earth moist, and secure the Plants against the Drought; and that is the best Season for Horse-hoeing, which always can keep the Roots moist[89].

[89] But if some Sorts of Earth have lain so long unmoved as to
become very hard before the first Hoeing, the Hoe, going very rear
to the Rows on each Side, may cause such hard Earth whereon the Rows
stand, to crack and open enough to let in the Drought (_i. e._ the
Sun and Air) to the Roots in very dry Weather. In this Case ’tis best
to _Horse-hoe_ alternately, as is directed in _Page_ 86.

Dung and Tillage together will attain the necessary Degree of Pulveration, in less time than Plowing can do alone: Therefore Dung is more useful for Turneps, because they have commonly less time to grow than other Plants.

Turneps of Nineteen Pounds Weight I have several Times heard of, and of Sixteen Pounds Weight often known; and Twelve Pounds may be reckon’d the middle Size of great Turneps: And I can see no Reason, why every Turnep should not arrive to the full Bigness of its Species, if it did not want Part of its due Nourishment.

The greatest Inconvenience, which has been observ’d in the Turnep-husbandry, is, when they are fed off late in the Spring (which is in many Places the greatest Use of them), there is not time to bring the Land in Tilth for Barley; the Loss of which Crop is sometimes more than the Gain of the Turneps: This is intirely remedied by the drilling Method; for, by that, the Land may be almost as well till’d before the Turneps are eaten, or taken off, as it can afterwards.

If Turneps be sown in _June_, or the Beginning of _July_, the most experienced Turnep-Farmers will have no more than Thirty to a square Perch left in Hand-hoeing; and find that when more are left, the Crop will be less; but, in drilling the Rows at Six Feet Intervals, there may be Sixty to a Perch; and the Horse-hoe, by breaking so much more Earth than the Hand-hoe does, can nourish Sixty drill’d, as well as Thirty are by the sowing Method, which has been made appear upon Trial; but, I think, about Forty or Forty-five better than Sixty on a Perch; and the Number of Plants should always be proportion’d to the natural and artificial Pasture which is to maintain them; and sixty Turneps on a square Perch, at Five Pounds each (which is but a Third of the Weight of the large Size of Sheep-Turneps), make a Crop of above Eighty Quarters to an Acre[90].

[90] I have had Turneps upon poor undung’d Land, that weigh’d
Fourteen Founds a-piece; but these were only such as had more Room
than the rest. I have seen a whole Waggon-load of drill’d Turneps
spread on the Ground, wherein I believe one could not have found
one that weighed so little as six Pounds; or if the Rows had been
searched before they had been pull’d up, they would have weighed
Seven or Eight Pounds apiece one with another; we weighed some of
them that were Thirteen, some Fourteen Pounds each, and yet they
stood pretty thick: There might be, as I guess, about Fifty on a
square Perch; but this Crop was on sandy Land, not poor; and was
dung’d the Third or Fourth Year before; and had every Year a ho’d
Crop of Potatoes, or Wheat, until the Year wherein the Turneps were
planted.

When Turneps are planted late (especially upon poor Ground), they may be a greater Number than when planted early; because they will not have time enough of Heat to enjoy the full Benefit of Hoeing, which would otherwise cause them to grow larger.

The greatest Turnep-Improvement used by the Farmer, is for his Cattle in the Winter; one Acre of Turneps will then maintain more than Fifty of Meadow or Pasture-ground.

’Tis now so well known, that most Cattle will eat them, and how much they breed Milk, _&c._ that I need say nothing about it.

Sheep always refuse them at first, and, unless they have eaten them whilst they were Lambs, must be ready to starve before they will feed on them; tho’, when they have tasted them, they will be fatted by them; and I have seen Lambs of Three Weeks old scoop them prettily, when those of a Year old (which are called Tegs) have been ready to die with Hunger amongst them; and for Three or Four Days would not touch them, but at last eat them very well.

In some Places, the greatest Use of Turneps (except for fatting Oxen and Sheep) is for Ewes and Lambs in the Spring, when natural Grass is not grown on poor Ground; and if the artificial Grass be then fed by the common Manner, the Crop will be spoil’d, and it will yield the less Pasture all the Summer: I have known Farmers, for that Reason, oblig’d to keep their Ewes and Lambs upon Turneps (tho’ run up to Seed) even until the Middle of _April_.

There are now three Manners of spending Turneps with Sheep, amongst which I do not reckon the Way of putting a Flock of Sheep into a large Ground of Turneps without dividing it; for in that Case the Flock will destroy as many Turneps in a Fortnight, as should keep them well a whole Winter.

The First Manner now in Use is, to divide the Ground of Turneps by Hurdles, giving them leave to come upon no more at a Time than they can eat in one Day, and so advance the Hurdles farther into the Ground daily, until all be spent; but we must observe, that they never eat them clean this Way, but leave the Bottoms and Outsides of the Turneps they have scoop’d in the Ground. These Bottoms People pull up with Iron Crooks, made for that Purpose; but their Cavities being tainted with Urine, Dung, and Dirt from their Feet, tho’ the Sheep do eat some of the Pieces, they waste more, and many the Crooks leave behind in the Earth; and even what they do eat of this tainted Food, can’t nourish them so well as that which is fresh and cleanly.

The second Manner is, to move the Hurdles every Day, as in the First; but that the Sheep may not tread upon the Turneps, they pull them up first, and then advance the Hurdles as far daily as the Turneps are pull’d up, and no farther: By this Means there is not that Waste made as in the other Way; the Food is eaten fresh and clean; and the Turneps are pull’d up with less Labour than their Pieces can be[91].

[91] I have seen Three Labourers work every Day with their Crooks,
to pull up these Pieces, which was done with much Difficulty, the
Ground being trodden very hard by the Sheep; when one Person, in Two
Hours time, would have pull’d up all the _whole_ Turneps daily, and
the Sheep would have eaten them clean; but so many of those Pieces
were dry’d and spoil’d, that, after the Land was sown with Barley,
they appear’d very thick upon the Surface, and there could not be
much less than half the Crop of Turneps wasted, notwithstanding the
Contrivance of these Crooks.

The Third Manner is, to pull them up, and to carry them into some other Ground in a Cart, or Waggon, and there spread them every Day on a new Place, where the Sheep will eat them up clean, both Leaf and Root: This is done when there is Land not far off, which has more Need of Dung, than that where the Turneps grow, which perhaps is also too wet for Sheep in the Winter; and then the Turneps will, by the too great Moisture and Dirt of the Soil, spoil the Sheep, and in some Soils give them the Rot, yet such Ground will bring forth more and larger Turneps than dry Land; and when they are carry’d off, and eaten on plow’d Ground in dry Weather, and on Green-swerd in wet Weather, the Sheep will thrive much better; and that moist Soil, not being trodden by the Sheep, will be in much the better Order for a Crop of Corn. And generally the Expence of Hurdles, and removing them, being saved, will more than countervail the Labour of carrying off the Turneps.

These Three Ways of spending Turneps with Sheep are common to those drill’d, and to those sown in the random Manner; but they must always be carry’d off for Cows and Oxen; both which will be well fatted by them, and some Hay in the Winter: The Management of these is the Business of a Grazier.

CHAP. IX.

_Of_ WHEAT.