284 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



doing it : there is something gained. Then, if you under- 

 took to sow that ground, even after you had levelled it with 

 the leveller, you would find more or less rubbish left there. 

 You might sow the seed ; but, when you came to hoe it with 

 the scuffle-hoe, you would find more or less sticks and stones, 

 or something of that kind. I do not want that rubbish on 

 the soil : so I think it is economy to get it out of the way, 

 and a man takes a horse with a swivel-plough, and runs that 

 about three inches deep, going back and forth, with two men 

 following him with rakes ; and, if there is any rubbish in the 

 way, it gets raked up and put into the furrow, out of the 

 way of the scuffle-hoe. If there are any stones as big as a 

 hen's egg, I tell them to pick them up and throw them out. 

 Unless the ground is very hard, we use a scuffle-hoe. If the 

 ground gets hard, get one of those onion-hoes, — not one of 

 those that you can buy in a store (those are not good for any 

 thing), but such a one as Mr. Ware sent me; but if the 

 ground is not hard, a scuffle-hoe does the work a little better 

 than that does. It is used in Arlington. It is not for sale 

 in the stores in Boston, but you can get it there. I know 

 just about the time it takes to hoe rows that are eighteen 

 rods long. It takes just three minutes to hoe a row, because 

 I have done it a great many times on time. You could not 

 do that if there was any rubbish in the way ; and with this 

 scuffle-hoe, if you struck a stone or a stick, very likely out 

 would go your hoe, and over would go a foot or two of onions 

 at the same time. That would happen sometimes with the 

 wheel-hoe, if there were any stones or rubbish in the way ; 

 perhaps not to a great extent, but it would happen some- 

 times, if you undertook to run it rapidly. 



There is an idea going about that an onion-bed must be 

 hard. I think you do not want the surface extremely hard, 

 and you do not want very deep tillage under it. I do not 

 know as deep tillage does any hurt : I am not going to say it 

 does, because I know the Arlington folks Avill grow onions 

 (by the way, they do not grow near as good onions as I do). 

 They will grow four or five rows of onions, and then grow 

 celery. Of course, the ground is stirred up very deep when 

 used for celery. They grow good onions, nevertheless ; but 

 then they use a little manure on their land, where they are 

 going to get two or three crops, — perhaps a little more than I 



