SB RuTA Baqa culture. [Parti. 



posed, that, in order to find employment for *' the po- 

 pulation," as he insolently called the people of England, 

 he would set "them to di»; holes one day and fill them up 

 the next. I could tell him what to pln?it in the holes, 

 so as to benefit the country in an immense degree ; but, 

 like the human body in some complaints, the nation 

 would now be really injured by the communications 

 of what, if it were in a. healthy state, would do it good, 

 add to its strength, and to all its means of exertion. 



121. To return from this digression, I am afraid of 

 no bad seasons. TI.e drought, which is the great enemy 

 to be dreaded in this country, I am quite prepared for. 

 Give me ground that 1 can plough ten or twelve inches 

 deep, and give me Indian corn spaces to plough in, and 

 1)0 sun can burn me up. 1 have mentioned Mr. Cur- 

 wen's experiment before ; or, rather Tull's ; for he it 

 is, who made' all the discoveries of this kind. Let any 

 man, just to try, leave half a rod of ground undng from 

 the month of May to that of October ; and another half 

 rod let him dig and break fne every ten or fifteen days. 

 Then, whenever there has been fifteen days of good 

 scorching sun, let him go and dig a hole in each. If 

 he does not find the hard ground dry as dust, and the 

 other moist ; then let him say, that I know nothing about 

 these matters. So erroneous is the common notion, that 

 ploughing in, dry iveather lets in the droxight ! 



122. Of course, proceeding upon this fact, which I 

 state as the result of numerous experiments, I should, 

 if ^^sited with long droughts, give one or two additional 

 ploughings between the crops when growing. That is 

 all ; and, with this, in Long Island, I defy all droughts. 



123. But, why need I insist upon this effect of plough- 

 ino- in dry weather ? Why need I insist on it in an 

 Indian corn country ? Who has not seen fields of Indian 

 corn looking, to-day, yellow and sickly, and, in four 

 days hence (the weather being dry all the while), look- 

 ino^ (^reen and flourishing; and this wonderful etfect 

 pr'oduced merely by the plough .-* Why, then, should 

 not the same effect always proceed from the same 

 cause \ The deeper you plough, the greater the effect, 

 however; for there is a greater body of earth to exhale 

 from, and to receive back the tribute of the atmosphere. 

 Mr. CuRAVEN tells us of a piece of cattle-cabbages. In 



