290 ON WHITE MUSTARD. 



The land should, be rediiced to as fine a tilth as for tur- 

 nips ; the seed should be sown upon a harrowed surface, and 

 then covered by light seed-harrows, g'oing" twice over the 

 ground, the second time across or obliquely. 



Quantity of seed to be sown, from three-quarters of a peck 

 (if the land is in a very fine state) to a peck per acre. 



The ground shoidd not be in a very dry or cloddy state ; 

 nor should the seed be pvddled in when the land is in a very 

 wet condition, as dr}^ w^eather quickly following* w^ould be 

 apt to cause a crust upon the top of the soil, which would 

 much hinder the progress of the seed in coming up. 



If sown in May or June, or up to the middle of Jul}'', the 

 crop will, in an average of seasons, have attained to its full 

 growth — that is, be ready to burst into bloom — in six or seven 

 weeks. As the autumn advances, its growth is slower In a 

 favourable season it may be sown even as late as the end of 

 September, and produce a considerable bulk of crop to be 

 ploughed in before the winter frosts destro}'^ it. 



From reference to Mr. Burroughes's journal kept during* 

 the summer of 1845, it appears that he ploughed up G acres 

 of fallow on a light turnip soil which had been sown with 

 rye-grass (in the wheat crop the previous year), and fed off 

 and folded by shee]), which was rolled down and harrowed, 

 and sow^n with a peck per acre of white mustai'd — 4 acres on 

 the 10th, and the I'emaining 2 acres on the 16th May. On 

 the 21st June began to feed it off (being about 2| feet high) 

 with 228 sheep and 70 lambs, which kept them, being folded 

 upon it at night, with only a bare layer to exercise upon in 

 the day, twelve days; the sheep improved much in con- 

 dition. 



July 8th and 11th, the whole was sown with white tur- 

 nips, after one ploughing and deep scarifj'ing. The turnips 

 came up rather shy, and grew slowly at first, and were not 

 quite a full plant, but very good size in bulb. Four acres of 

 white mustard w'cre also sown after tares — 2 acres on the 

 5th, and 2 acres on the 11th August 1845; after one 

 ploughing and sundry harrowings, upon a fertile mixed 

 soil, and which w^as begun to be fed off with sheep on the 

 10th October, it being then a ver^^ fine crop, nearly as high 

 as the hurdles, this ground was afterwards sown wdtli 

 wheat. 



Of the efficacy of white mustard ploughed in as a green 

 manure, Mr. Burroughes had no experience at the time when 

 he sent in his Essay. " I can only say," he observes, " that 



