142 Ctiitfoation of Arable Land. Turnips After-culture. Hoeing. 



of the crops muft in general depend ; as, without confidcrable attention in this 

 idpeci, the labour and expence that have been employed in preparing the foil 

 and putting in the crops muft in a great meafure be thrown auay, the produce 

 being feld &amp;lt;m fufficient to repay the cultivator in an adequate manner. This 

 culture is to be accomplifhcd by means of the hoe. Where the crop has been 

 pu: to the ground in the broadcaft method, the hand-hoe only can be cm- 

 pi* ved ; but where the feed is fown in rows by the drill, and a fufficient fpacc 

 of interval allowed, thofe of the horfe kind can be made ufe of, either alone, or 

 in addition after the plants have been properly thinned out in the hand method. 

 Jt is ufual when the plants have produced four or five leaves, or when they 

 Cover a circle of from three to four inches in diameter, which, in kindly feafons, 

 will moftly happen in about a month or fix weeks from the time of fowing, to 

 begin thefe operations. Jn the firft of which, fuch plants as (land too clofc 

 muft be thinned out to a fu.table diftance, according to the circumftances of 

 the feafon, th: nature of the foil, the period of fowing, and the ufe to which 

 the crop is to be applied. When the feafon is hot and dry, the thinning in the 

 firft hocings ftiould not be to too great a diftance; as by keeping the plants 

 pretty clofe together the moifturcof the land may be better preferved, and the 

 crop rendered more fecure : but in rich foils, when early fown, and when 

 intended to be confumed by cattle at an early period, more thinning may at 

 firft be advantageous. The moft ufual cuftom is to leave the plants in the fir ft 

 hocings at the diftance of from fix to eight inches from each other ; and fome 

 cultivators prefer a ftill greater diftance.* In the fecond hoeing, which fhould 

 be performed in the courfe of about a fortnight or three weeks from the firff, 

 according as there may be necefllty, the plants that are to remain for a crop 

 may be left at the diftance of from ten to twelve or fourteen inches in the 

 -broadcaft practice ; and at thofe of from nine to fifteen, or fometimes more, in 

 the rows where the drill fyftem is employed. 



In the fecond hoeings, the mould between the plants ihould always be- well 

 ftirred, in order that it may be perfectly aerated, and any weeds that may have 

 rifen be effectually deftroyed. The future hoeings of crops of this kind muft 

 be regulated by the particular circumftances of the cafes; but the mould mould 

 never be allowed to become too compact about the roots of the plants, or weeds 

 fufFered to interfere with the crops. 



Jn the county of Northumberland, where the turnip culture is performed in 



* Kent s Hints. 



