284 A FARMER'S YEAR 



one to carry the bundles of straw up the ladder, and one to lay 

 and fasten them. 



If, as in the present case, the hay is very dense and hard, the 

 thatching takes a little more time, since then it is not easy to force 

 the broaches home into the body of the stack. 



July 23. Yesterday I found Buck putting in a spare hour 

 after he had finished with the cows, hoeing beet on All Hallows 

 field, No. 29. Here the ground is so hard that in places the 

 swelling bulbs of the beet have actually split the soil about them. 

 Buck, who, as I have said before, is a critic, is of opinion that this 

 hardness is chiefly caused by the land having been rolled for 

 drilling when too wet. I think, however, that the drought has a 

 good deal to do with it. I find that my half-dozen little beets, 

 which I transplanted in this field, are looking green and flourish- 

 ing, but I must admit that they are not so large as the beet which 

 have not been transplanted. 



About three in the afternoon a soft shower came on, which 

 continued at intervals until 10 o'clock at night. Although it has 

 stopped the hay-carting, this rain, light as it is, is most welcome, 

 as the young swedes and white turnips are beginning to suffer 

 much from drought, and the shorn pastures sadly need refresh- 

 ment to start them into growth again. Unless we have some wet 

 before harvest I fear that the aftermath and the second crop on 

 the ollands will be but scanty. 



To-day is stormy, but without rain. Whitrup has been at 

 work with the flat hoe, cleaning the beet on No. 23. Going to 

 the field after he left it, I found that this instrument had 

 worked considerable havoc to the roots as well as to the weeds, for 

 a great many beautiful beet were broken off and destroyed. 

 Damage of this sort is difficult to avoid, especially if the ground 

 is hard, as the leaves of the beet catch in the hoe and the roots 

 are snapped in an instant. In this case it is wise to take the 

 wrench and set the knives a little closer together, since it is 

 better that a few weeds should escape than that good beet 



