106 AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 



ously inj iired than any other grain. As many persons are ignoranthow 

 to root out these weeds, it may be well to copy the following rules by 

 a late French writer in the Annalcs dc I agriculture, wbo had been en 

 tirely successful in clearing a farm overrun with them. 



1 . Plow very deep, so as to give all the seeds within reach of the 

 plow facilities for germinating. 



2. JIarrow the ground till every clod is bioken, for the seeds are of 

 ten retained in clods, and only germinate when these are disintegrated 

 by rain, (fee., or by artificial means. 



3. Cultivate two hoed crops before grain is sown, and do not allow a 

 single plant of mustard to so to seed. 



4. For the third crop, grow oats, drilled at a sufficient distance to per 

 mit hand hoeing between the rows. 



By using these means, and not allowing a single plant to seed, the 

 worst fields may be cleared in three or four years. It is important 

 that the first plowing should be deeper than any succeeding one, as the 

 soil frequently contains the seeds to a great depth, which will germin 

 ate as soon as exposed to the air. 



Of course it is requisite that all grain sown should be quite free from 

 the seeds of the mustard. 



272. Common salt, from four to eight bushels per acre spread three 

 or four days before the seed is sown, and lightly harrowed in, has been 

 found an useful manure for oats, especially at a distance from the sea. 

 It supplies the soda, chlorine, and magnesia ; it retains moisture in the 

 soil ; it acts as a solvent on the other constituents of the earth; and gen 

 erally strengthens the straw. We warmly recommend a trial of it in 

 those parts of Michigan where the oat crop is apt to fail. Wood ashes 

 also (unclenched) aie a valuable manure, especially in sandy soils, for 

 oats. 



