CH. II.l THE ROOT. 59 



are rarely to be seen by following up hoeing with 

 spirit, but with a desire to keep one unifoiTu pulver- 

 ization and moisture throughout, which is the 

 means of not only continuing the present crop in 

 the greatest of health and luxuriance, but at the 

 same time is making a beautiful preparation for the 

 succeeding crop. No season, for some years, has 

 proved this practice to be efficient more than that 

 of 1844, in proof of which, I have the great satis- 

 faction of hearing, from many practical gardeners 

 from various parts of the countiy, who have carried 

 out the system of my practice, recommended in the 

 " Gardener s Magazine," and elsewhere. For my 

 own part, I never had more abundant or healthier 

 crops of vegetables of all kinds than I have this 

 season, although in this neighbourhood (Sidmouth) 

 we were eighty-nine days without any rain, after the 

 5th April, and then only partial showers for a few 

 days ; and then drought set in again for some 

 time, more rigorously than it had previously been. 

 Onions \rith me are astonishingly large, weighty, and 

 somid. 



" I keep all ground, as soon as a crop is done 

 with, well trenched, burning all the refuse I possibly 

 can in a green state, casting the earth into rough 

 ridges, tumbling those ridges over with a strong 

 fork on frosty mornings in winter and spring, and 



