-Cultivation of Arable Laml. Liquorice Time and Method of pianting. 275 



trng them on the plain furface, while others have recourfe to fmall beds. On foils 

 that are dry and porous, the firft may be the moft advifable practice ; but in fuch as 

 are retentive of moiftu re the bed -method may be preferable. 



In the firft mode, the fets are ufually put in by means of a line, with a dibble 

 of confiderable length, in rows at the diftance of two feet from each other, and one 

 foot or more in the rows ; the fhoots being put in ftraight downwards, fo as to be 

 covered over about one inch with earth on the top. Where the intervals between-, 

 the rows are fufficiently fpacious, there are confiderable advantages in the cultiva-r 

 tion of the roots, as the earth may be ftirred and kept clean at little expence by- 

 means of the plough, and at the fame time the roots will have room to attain a more 

 full growth. 



Where the planting is performed in the latter method, it is the practice in fome 

 diftricts to put the fets in on beds three feet in width raifed into ridges.* In both 

 thefe methods, it is the cuftom with many to fow, at the time the planting is ex 

 ecuted, fome fmall feed-crops, fuch as onions. In the bed method they are fovvn 

 in the alleys : but though in this way fome advantage may be immediately gained, 

 without much care in removing them from about the liquorice plants, they will be 

 prejudicial to their growth: befides, they prevent the land, in the intervals of the 

 rows and alleys, from being ftirred and kept in a perfectly clean ftate, a circumftance 

 on which much depends in the culture of the liquorke root. 



After-culture. It is highly necelfary that the plants be kept free from weeds 

 by repeated hoeing and hand-weeding during the fummer months and towards 

 October, after the onions or other crops, where they are grown, have been removed 

 and the land been well cleaned, a flight covering of well rotted dung mould be 

 applied. In this ftate the plants may remain until the following March ; when: 

 the ground between the rows, or in the alleys, mud be lightly ftirred, either by 

 digging or the plough, in order to promote the growth of the plants. Some like- 

 wife advife the tops of the liquorice plants to be annually cut over.f Thefe methods 

 are to be purfued till the third year after planting, when the roots will be in a con 

 dition to be taken up, but which mould not be performed until the ftems are wholly 

 decayed, as when raifed too early they fhrink greatly and decreafe much in weight. 

 The method of taking up the roots is generally by means of trench digging to the 

 full depth of the roots, which is moftly about three fpits in depth. 



In executing the work three workmen generally follow each other with fpits, be 

 ginning on the outlide of the rows with the trenches, the laft having a mattock. 



* Corre&ed Agricultural Report of the Weft Riding of Yorkshire, -f- Ibid, 



N. n x 



