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liocd, except within twenty or thirty miles of London, 

 where the gardeners who had been bred in the kitchen- 

 gardens near London, every feaibn went out in parti- 

 cular gangs to the different parts of the neighbouring 

 country, and each party engaged to hoe the Turncps 

 m fuch a particular diftrift," at a certain price per 

 acre ^ and from the fuccefs of the farmers who firft 

 employed them, their neighbours were at length 

 tempted to follow their example, fo that it became ne- 

 ceflary for fome of their labourers to underftand this 

 work i and from that time it has prevailed fo much, 

 as that many of the dillanc counties have now engaged 

 in this practice : and if the Horfe-hoeing hufbandry 

 was but well eftablilhed among the farmers near Lon- 

 don, there would be little doubt of its fpreading into 

 the diftanr counties ; but there are great prejudices 

 againfi; it at prefent, mofl: of them arifing from the 

 ignorance of the farmers in general, and others from 

 the ovcr-fondnefs of the author to his own fchemcs, 

 which has in many particulars carried him into many 

 known abfurdities ^ and thefe being well known to 

 every praftical farmer and gardener, are fufficient ar- 

 guments with them againll making trial of the ufeful 



part of his fcheme. 



The utility of this method of hufbandry, is firft, in pro- 

 portioning the number of plants to the pafture, which 

 the ground is fuppofed capable of nourilhing pro- 

 perly. The fecond is, by frequent ftirring of the 

 furface of the land, all weeds which rob the crop 

 of its nourifhment is deftroyed, and the clods of earth 

 are hereby divided and pulverized, fo that the roots of 

 the plants can m.ore eafily penetrate them, and fearch 



' their proper food ; befides, the dews and moifture are 

 cafily imbibed in the loofe ground, whereby the plants ^ 

 receive a greater fhare of nouriihment. 

 There are few perfons who properly confider of what 

 confequence the ftirring and breaking of the furface 

 of the ground is to all crops growing thereiii.^ I have 

 frequently made trial of this, when the crop has oeen 



' fo bad as to & thou ght'not worth ftanding, which has 

 . ; "Beeii'occafioned by the' great quantity of rain which 



-_ has fallen, whereby tjie furface of the ground has beep 



' fo clofely bound, as that the plants could find no nou- 

 .' ' rifhrneht/lbut fiavS changed their ufual verdure to a 



,,'pQfpTe colour, and have made no progrefs ; but 



■\upon Hoeing the ground and breaking the clods, the 

 plants have put out new roots, and have flourifhed 



. exceedingly. From' many repeated trials of this kind 

 I can affirm, that if the Wheat in general was fowed 

 in rows, fo as that the plough may be brought be- 



• tween them in the fpring, to loofen the ground, which 



- by the winter's rains may have been too clofely bound, 

 the crop would more than double what is the com- 

 mon produce. 



But the author of this fcheme was too fanguine in 

 his prbpofals, firft, by afterting, that in. this method 

 of huft^andfy, the land would conftantly produce the 

 fame fort of crops without diminution ; and fecondly. 

 It might be done without drcffing or manuring the 

 ground ; and his fondnefs for his own fcheme carried 

 him fo far in the profecution'of it; as at laft to have 

 "much worfe crops than any of his neighbours Vhow- 



■ -ever, this fhould not difcourage others from the prac- 

 ticc of It, though upon ditierent principles : for al- 



i 



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l/thdugti the land thus cultivated,' will not nourifh the 

 ^•':fame plant without manuring feveral years, yet by this 

 •'method of huft^andry I can affirm, that all crops will 

 •'te fo much improved, as to doubly ahfwer the diffe- 

 rence of expence, and lefs than a fixth part of the feed 

 t.Jwill be enough for the fame fpace of ground. The 

 ■■^vcommon fwin^ plough will anfv/er all intents of Horfe- 

 ■ noeing. ,; 



HOLCUS. Lin. Gen. Plant. 1015. Milium. Tourn. 

 'Infl:.R. H. 514. tab. 2^8. Sorgum. Mich. Indian 

 Millet;^ or Corn. 



The Characters are, 



li hath male and hermaphrodite flowers fomet277tes on the 

 fame plants at others on dJjfcrent plants, "The male 

 jlo^xers are finally and have a bivalve chaff -^ thefe 



%'ahes are cval^ fpear-fljaped^ and twiftcd^ ending with 



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an acute beard -, they have a fnall hairy corolla v:ith 

 three hairy Jiaminaj terminated by oblong fummits, "The 

 hermaphrodite flowers are fingle^ in a ft iff bivalve chaff- 

 the inner of thefe is fender^ hairy ^ and lefs than the em- 

 palement •, the outer valve terminates in a ria-jd beard 

 and is larger than the empalcment \ they have three hairy 

 ftamina^ terminated by oblong fummits^ with a round* 

 ifh gerrnen^ fupporting two hairy ftyles^ crowned wi^h 

 plumofe fiimmits. The gennen afterward becomes an oval 

 Jingle feed wrapped tip in the chaff. 



This genus of plants is ranged in the firft fedion of 

 Linn3::us's twenty third clafs, intitled Polyo-amia 

 Moncccia which includes thofe plants v/hich have 

 male and hermaphrodite flowers in different parts of 

 the fame plant, whofe flowers have feveral ftamina. 

 The Species are, 

 I. HoLcus {Sorgum) glumis villofis, feminibus ariftatis. 



feeds. 



Hort. Upfal. 301. Holcus with hairy chaff and bearded 



Milium arundinaceum, fubrotundo fenjine 

 Sorgo nominatum. C. B. P. 26. Reed-like Millet ^ with 

 a roundiflo fecd^ called Sorgum, 



2. HoLCus (6'^cf/??.^;r^/^^j-) glumis glabris, feminibus mu- 

 ticis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 1047. Holcus with fmooth hufks^ 

 and feeds without awns. Milium Indicum, arundina- 

 ceo caule, granis flavefcentibus. H. L, 425. Indian 

 Millet with a reedy ftalk^ andyellowiflo grains. 

 There are feveral other of the graffy tribe which be- 

 long to this genus, but as they are not cultivated for 

 ufe, fo I iliall not enumerate them here. 

 The two forts here mentioned, grow naturally in In- 

 dia, where their grain is often ufed to feed poultry, 

 and the feeds of thefe are frequently fent to Europe 

 for the fame purpofe j but the fummers arefeldom. 

 .. warm_enough to ripen the feeds in the open air in 

 . -1 England, but in Italy they are both cultivated. The 

 ftalks of thefe plants rife five or fix feet high, which 



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are ftrong reedy, and li^ ,thofe of the Maiz, or 



i. .Turkey Wheats butfmaller. The leaves are lone and 



, broad, having a deep furrow through the center, 



where the midrib is depreflTed on the upper furface, 



and is very prominent below. " The leaves are two 



feet and a half long, and two inches broad in the 



middle, embracing the ftalks with their bafe. . The 



. ^ flowers come but in large panicles at the: top of the 



ftalks, refembling, at firft appearance, the malefpikes- 



of the Turkey Wheat j thefe are fucceeded by large 



roundiOi feeds, which are wrapped round with thecIiafF. 



Thefe plants are propagated in a few gardens for 



' the fake of variety, but as they are late in ripening 



their grain here, lb they are not worth cultivating 



for ufe. The feeds fliould be fown on a warm border, 



or upon a gentle hot-bed in March j and when the 



• plants come up, they ftiould be thinned and planted 



at the diftance of a foot afunder in the rows, and the 



rows fliould be three feet diftance ; the culture after 



this, is to keep the ground clean from weeds, ' and 



■ draw the earth up with a hoe to the ferns of the 



plants ^ if the feafon proves warm, their panicles will 



appear in July, and the grain will ripen in September, 



^ but in bad feafons their grain will not ripen here. ■ . - 



HOLLOW ROOT. See Fumaria. ^ f 



HOLLY. See Ilex. 



HOLLYHOCKS. See Alcea. - .^ . - 

 HOMOGENEAL or HOMOGENEOUS 



. '^-i' f\^ 



- ft:^ 



plants, are fuch plants as are of the fame kind, or na- 

 ..tiire, with others. . , ,' '..,..\', 



HONEYSUCKLE. See Periclymekum, r j 



HOPS. See LupuLus. , ..^*' 



HORDEUM. Lin. Gen, Plant. 94. Tourn. Inf^. R. 

 " , H. 513. tab. 293. Barley; in French, Orgt. , 

 The Characters are, * .. 



// hath a partialjnvolucrum of fix narrow-pointed leaves^ 

 which contain three flowers, The petal of the flower opens 

 with two valves *, the under valve is angular-, jwelitngy 

 cval^ and pointed,, being longer than the empalcment^ 

 . ending in a long beard \ the inner is fmall and fpcar-fhapd^ 

 ^he flower hath three hairy ftamina floorter than the pe- 

 tal^ terminated by oblong fummits. It hath an oval turned 

 germen^ fupporting two hairy reflexed ftyles.^ crowned by i^^ 

 • likejtigmas. The germen aftc7'ward becomes an cblong belhed 



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