AND USE IN UNITED STATES. 43 



frequently extending as far into the ground 

 as the plant extends above it. The 

 ground must be ploughed deep, and well 

 pulverized. The land should be ploughed 

 in the fall, and in the spring a second 

 ploughing should be followed by a thorough 

 harrowing, and before sowing the ground 

 should be ploughed and harrowed again. 

 In Belgium, the land is, in addition, thor- 

 oughly trenched with a spade. Much 

 attention is given to the manuring of the 

 land. In the fall, twenty-five to thirty 

 loads of solid manure to each acre are 

 ploughed in, and in the spring liquid ma- 

 nure is applied to the extent of twenty- 

 five hundred gallons per acre. 1 After the 

 last harrowing the land is rolled, and then 

 gone over with a hand bush, or wooden, 

 harrow followed by a light roller, as in 

 that condition of the ground a heavy 

 horse would trample it down too much. 

 "The object of the Belgian farmer," says 

 the Congressional Commission of 1863, 

 "is to obtain a deep and friable soil, 



1 Rep. Dept. Ag. 1879, P- 5 86 - 



