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clay, of any for this plant ; in both which the ro':Jts 

 will rot in winter, and in a year or two tlic whole crop 

 will be deftroyecl. 



But the foil in which this plant is found to fucceed 

 bed in this country is, a light, dry, loofe, fandy land, 

 which {liould be well ploughed and dreifed, and the 

 roots of all noxious weeds, fuch as Couch Grafs, &c. 

 deftroyed, otherwifc they v/ill overgrow the plants 

 while young, and prevent their progrefs. 

 The beft time to fow the feed is about the middle of 

 April, when the weather is fettled and fair ^ for if 

 you fov/it when the ground is very wet, or in a rainy 

 feafon, the feeds will burft and come to little (as 

 is often the cafe with feveral forts of the leguminous 

 plants therefore you fliould always obferve to fow 

 it in a dry feafon, and if there happens rain in about 

 a week or ten days after it is fown, the plants will foon 

 appear above ground. \ 



But the method I would direct for the fowing thefe 

 feeds is as follows : after having well ploughed and 

 harrowed the land very fine, you ihould make' a drill 

 quite acrofs the ground, about half an inch deep, into 

 which the feeds (hould be fcattered very thin by a 

 hopper fixed to a drii] plough ; then cover them over 

 half an inch thick, with the earth that came' out of 

 the drill ; then proceed to make another drill about 

 two feet and a half from the fornner, fowing the feeds 



* therein in the fame manner as before, and fo proceed 

 through the whole fpot of ground, allowing the fame 

 diftance betv/een row and row, and fcatterthe feeds 

 very thin in the drills. In this manner, an acre of 

 land will require about fix pounds of i^eds ; for when 



.it is fown thicker, if the feed grov/s well, the plants 

 will be fo clo fc as to fpoil each otfi 



a year or 



■ tv/O; the heads of them growing to a confiderable fize, 



' as v/ill alfo the roots, provided they have room. I 



have meafjred the crown of one root, which was in 



my p'j'rt-fii ^n, eighteen inches diameter ; from v;hich 



*/Icut near four Iiundrcd fiioots at one time, which is 



.an extraordinary increafe, and this upon a poor, dry, 



gravelly foil, which had not been dunged for many 



years, but the root was at lead fourteen years old ; fo 



that if this crop be well cultivated, it will continue many 



■years, and be equally good as v/hen it v/as firft fov/n ; 



for the roots generally run dov/n very deep in the 



gfovind, provided the foil be dry ; and althougli they 



'Ihould meet a Hard eravel a foot below' the fiirface, 



yet their roots would penetrate it, and make their 



way downward, as I have experienced, having taken 



up fome of them which were above four feet in length, 



and had run above two feet into a rock of gravel, 



which was fo hard as not 'to be loofened without 



* niattocks and crows of iron, and that with much dif- 

 ficulty.^" ■ ' - -^ -^ 



. -^ "*-- 1 * 



■ The reafon for directing' this feed to be fown in rows 

 is, that the plants may have room to gi-ow ; and for 

 the better ftirring the ground between them, to de- 

 ftroy the weeds, and encourage the growth of the 

 plants, which may be very eafily efi^efted with a I^utch 

 hoe, juft after the cutting the crop each tirne, "which 

 will caufe the plants to Ihoo't again in a very little time, 

 and be much ftron^-er than in fuch places where the 

 ground cannot be ftirred -, but when the plants firft 

 come up, the ground between therfi fliould be hoed 

 by hand with a common hoe ; and if in doing of this 

 you cut up the plants where they are too clofe in the 

 rows, it will caufe the remaining to be much ftronger. 

 This hoeing fliould be repeated two or three times 

 while the plants are young, according as the weeds 

 are produced, obferving always to do it in dry wea- 

 ther, that the weeds may the better be deftroyed -, for 

 if it be done in moift weather, they will take root 

 and grow again. 



With this management, the plants will grow to the 

 height of two feet, or more, by the begi 

 gull, when the flowers will begin to appear, 



the firft time, obferving to do it 

 m a dry feafon, efpecially if it is to be m.ade into hay, 

 and keep it often turned, that it may foon dry, and 

 be carried off tlie ground , for if it lie long upon the 

 roots, it will prevent their fliooting again. After the 



ftould be cut for 



inning of Au- 



when it 



or 



MED 



crop is taken ofl; you fliould flir the ground Lc- 

 twcen the rows with a hoe, to kill the weeds, and 

 loofen the furface, v/hich v/iU caufe the plants to 

 flioot again in a fliort tim.e, fo that by the middle of 

 September there will be fiioots four or five inches 

 high, when you may turn in fiicep upon it to feed it 

 down, for it will not be fit to cut again tlie fame fea- 

 fon ; nor fliOuId the flioots be fufltred to remain up- 

 on the plants, which would decay when the frofty 

 weather comes on, and fall down upon the roots, and 

 prevent their fliooting early the fucceeding fpring; 

 but thefe flieep fliould hot remain fo long upon it as 

 to endanger the crowns of the roots. 

 So that the beft way is to feed it until November, 

 when it will have done fliooting for that feafon j but 

 'it fliould not be fed by large cattle the firft year, be- 

 caufe the roots being young, v;ould be in danger of 

 being deftroyed, either by their tranripling upon ihem, 

 •their pulling them out of the ground ■, but flicep 

 will be of ferviceto the roots by dunging the ground,^ 

 provided they do not eat it too clofe. 

 The beginning of February, the ground between the 

 roots fliould be again ftirred with the hoe, to encou- 

 rage them to flioot again ; but in doing of this you 

 ftiould be careful not to injure the crown of the roots, 



; upon. which the buds are at that time very turgid, 

 and ready to pufli. With this management, if the foil 

 be warm, by the middle of March the flioots will be 



' five or fix inches' high, when, if you are in want of 

 fodder, you may feed it down till a week in April ; 



"after which it fliould be fuffered to grow for a crop, 



,Jwhich will be fit to cut the beginning of June, when 

 you fliould obferve to get it off^the ground as foon 

 as poflible, and ftir the ground again wdth a Dutch 

 hoe, which will forward the plants fliooting again, 

 fo that by the middle of July, there will be another 

 crop fit to cut, which muft be managed as before : 

 after which it fliould be fed down again in autumn ; 

 and as the roots by this time will have taken deep 

 hold in the ground, there will be little danger of 

 hurting them, if you fliould turn in larger cattle j but 

 you muft always obferve not to fuffer them to remain 

 after the roots have done fliooting, left they fliould 

 eat down the crown of the roots below the buds, 

 which would confideraby damage, if notdeftroy them. 

 In this manner you may continue conftantly to have 

 two crops to cut, and two feedings upon this plant, 

 and in good fummers there may be three crops cut, 

 and two feedings-, which will be a great improve- 

 ment, efpecially as this plant" will grow upon dry 



f - 



barren foils, where Grafs will produce little, efpe- 

 cially in dry feafons, when it will be of great ufe, the 

 .Grafs being often burnt up. " And as it is an early 



"^plant in the fpring, fo it will be of great fervice when 

 odder falls fliort at that feafon, v?hen it v/ill be fit" to 

 feed at leaft a month before Grafs or Clover ; for I 

 have had this plant eight inches high by the tenth of 



' March, old ftyle, at which time the Grals in' the fame 

 place has fcarcely been one inch high. ' ' ■ 

 That the cold will not injure this plant, I am fully 

 fatisfied ; for in the very cold winter, anno 1729-30, 

 I had fome roots of this plant which were dug up in. 

 Odtober, and laid upon the ground in the open air till 

 'the beginning of March, when I planted them again, 



'and they ftiot out very vigorously foon after'j nay, 

 even while" they lay upon the ground, they ftruck 

 out fibres from the under fide of the roots, and be- 

 gun to make flioots from the crown of the roots. But 

 that wet will deftroy the roots I am fully convinced, 

 for I fowed above an acre upon a moift fpot of 

 ground for a trial, which came up very well, and 

 flouriflied exceedingly during the fummer feafon, but 

 in winter, when the great 'rains fell, the roots began 

 to rot at bottom, and before the fpring moft of them 

 v/cre deftroyed. . There has been lately fome pcrlbns 

 who have advifed the fowing of Lucern in broad-caft, 

 and to n^ake ufe of a ftrong harrow, to tear u^ and 

 deftroy the' weeds which naturally grow up among 

 the plants ; but this advice has been given too pre- , 

 maturely, therefore it is to be hoped will not be fol- 

 lowed by any difcreet perfons, who are defired to take 



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