142 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



what like the street pprinklcrs drawn by a liort^e, with a rose similar to a 

 watering pot at each end of a cylinder or hollow tube of proportionable size, 

 which in passing between the nbove six rows will, by this means, furnish a 

 Ao««///w/ su{)ply of water; and the twenty-inch alley will afi'urd ample space 

 for cultivation, gathering fruit, &:c. Then from the "road" take three more 

 rows again ; then twenty inches for another alley, and so on through the 

 allotted plantation. 



In field culture we wish to retain the plants in fulWigor for as long a time 

 as possible. The principle as laid down in keeping the bank of dirt at the 

 period of planting, must here operate largely. We will suppose that at the 

 tirst year of jjlanting this little bank of earth is only half used, or, if it is 

 thrown in, as a winter protection to the plants. In the spring it is j)nrtly taken 

 out again and placed between the rows equally, for convenience sake, as the 

 hoeiugs of the first season have sufhciently established the plants to send out 

 their full amount of side shoots the coming season, and to bear their fruit. Of 

 course these side shoots have formed their roots above those of the mother 

 plant. Then in the fall, say at the end of the " dog days," the surplus dirt 

 between the rows is thrown in. At this time the field presents a regular level 

 surface. By this process Ave are establishing the "aggregation" of plants iu 

 each hill, and at the end of the third year an increased number of side shoots 

 have formed with their roots above those of the second year. Of course we 

 would want more earth to fill around the plants. 



Now the flat culture system is to play the useful part. As the good culti- 

 vator of corn would say, " hoe to and from." Now the time to practice the 

 above is important. 



If the field has received proper attention, as above stated, in the fall, and is 

 mulched accordingly, there is nothing to be done until the plants have fruited 

 and the mulch (hay or straw) is removed. Then we proceed, with the rake, to 

 keep the ground in good order during the months of July and August. The 

 roots grow more vigorously then than at any other time. This being the fact, 

 the young ofl'shoots make vigorous progress. It is important that the earth 

 should be hoed from the plant, that these roots may make great efl'orts to find 

 their way down, otherwise they Avill remain stationary near the surface, and 

 will consequently require additional earth to cover them, or they Avill sufi'er from 

 the winter freezing. Late iu the fall, and before winter sets in, we return this 

 soil, which we held in reserve, by the operation of hoeing^ from the plant. This 

 makes the fourth year, with its mulch. We are still on a level plain with our 

 plants for the fifth year. The same process of operations is continued, as before, 

 practicing the same hoeing to and from the plants. This year we find ourselves 

 in want of soil for their winter protection. We must, of course, resort to the 

 earth that has been lying idle in the four-foot road. We can easily obtain 

 therefrom sufhcieut soil and earth, or shovel it around the plants, the road being 

 as useful for all intended purposes as before. Thus Ave are secure for the sixth 

 year, all on a level plain with our plants only, as before. Now we have one 

 more year, the seventh, to prepare for, which will require the earth from be- 

 tween the rows for protection. This is as much as we can expect the planta- 

 tion to perform profitably. 



We now seek a new plot of ground for a renewal. Our efforts to renew on 

 the same .plantation would prove fruitless, for, if the ground has not become 

 exhausted, it contains a deposit of excrementitious matter that precludes all 

 possibility of success, to say nothing of the hordes of Avire-worms and grubs 

 that infest and destroy plants. But to plant corn or potatoes for a year or two 

 would render it suitable for a renewal. 



III. PROPAGATING, HYBRIDIZING, FORCING, ETC. 



In propagating from seed it is idle to calculate upon favorable results from 

 indifferent seeds. Fom my first experiments in this way, which Avere iu the 



