9O TALKS ABOUT THE SOIL. 



mended to select one or more of them, and carry 

 them out, and make a complete record of the work 

 and the results. 



1. Plant a row of Early Mohawk beans, twenty feet 

 long, and divide it into two equal parts, and mark and 

 number each half by stakes in the ground. Call one 

 half No. i, and the other No. 2. As soon as the 

 plants appear, note carefully if there are about as 

 many plants in No. i as in No. 2 ; and, if there are 

 gaps or failures in either, enough plants must be pulled 

 up in the other to make them equal. This, of course, 

 applies to all these experiments. They must be as 

 nearly alike as possible. As the plants come up, rake 

 the soil for two feet on each side of No. i, and leave 

 No. 2 untouched. When weeds appear, hoe No. i 

 about two inches deep, but do not disturb No. 2 except 

 to pull up the larger weeds by hand. After that, hoe 

 No. i after every rain, and rake the ground on each 

 side once a week on pleasant days. Leave No. 2 un- 

 touched except to pull up weeds. When the beans 

 are ready to pick, pick each lot separately, and weigh 

 each lot. Do this every time ; and at the last picking, 

 gather all the pods, large and small, and weigh every 

 lot. Keep a record of these pickings from No. i and 

 from No. 2, and see if there is any difference in the 

 total crops of No. i and No. 2. There will probably 

 be a difference in favor of No. i, and this will show 

 the effect of tillage. 



2. Plant twenty hills Crosby's Early sugar-corn. 

 Mark ten of the hills No. i, and ten of them No. 2. 



