Chap. II.] RUTA B.\GA CULTURE. 55 



them up with the harrow ; and, besides, my time of solv- 

 ing came on apace. Thus situatetl, and having no faith 

 in what I was told about the danfjcrs of deep ptovghiny, 

 I fixed four oxen to a stront^ plough, and turned up 

 soil that had not seen the sun lor many, many long 

 years. Another soaking rain came very soon after, and 

 Avent, at once, to the bottom of my ploughing, instead 

 of being carried away instantly by evaporation. I then 

 harrowed the ground down level, in order to keep it 

 moist as long as I could ; for the sun now began to be 

 the thing most dreaded. 



48. In the meanwhile I was preparing my mamire. 

 There was nothing of the kind visible upon the place. 

 But, I had tlie good luck to follow a person, who ap- 

 pears not to have known much of the use oi brooms. By 

 means of sweeping and raking and scratching in and 

 round the house, tlie barn, the stables, the hen-roost, 

 and the court and yard, I got together about four hun- 

 dred btis'hcls of not very bad turnip manure. This was 

 not quite 60 bushels to an acre for m}' seven acres ; or, 

 three gallons to every square rod. 



49. However, though I made use of these beggarly 

 means. ' would not be understood to recommend tlie 

 use of such means to others. On the contrary, I should 

 have preferred good and clean land, and plenty of ma- 

 nure : but of this I shall speak again, when I have 

 given an account ol" the manner of sowing and ti-ans- 

 planting. 



Manner of Sowing. 



50. Thus fitted out witli land and manure, I set to 

 the work of sowing, which was performed, with the help 

 of two ploughs and two pair of oxen, on the 25th, 26th, 

 and 27th of June. The ploughmen put the ground up 

 into little , idgcs having tico furrows on each side of the 

 ridge: so that every ridge consisted of four furrows, or 

 turnings over of tlie plough ; and the tops of the ridges 

 were about four feet Irom each otiier ; and, as the 

 ploughing was perl'ormed to a great depth, there was, 

 of course, a very deep gutter between every two ridges. 



51. 1 took care to have the manure placed so as to be 

 under the middle of each ridge; that is to say, just be- 



