CHAP, vii SYLVA 193 



depth and nourishment for the roots, and the furrows 

 being filled up with leaves, when rotten, will lead 

 the roots from one ridge to another : In dry ground 

 plow the ridges cross the descent, not to drain, but 

 keep the water on the ground, but in wet lands, 

 contrary : This I hold to be an excellent note : He 

 conceives the barly season to be of the latest to sow 

 your seeds, but with oats it does well, so you sow 

 them not too thick ; but 'tis best of all to sow them 

 by themselves, without any crop of grain at all. 



A more expeditious way is to plant with sets, 

 making holes or fosses (which are best) two foot 

 wide, and deep, and about half a rod distant, *)>iz. 

 four in every rod square, two sets in each hole, sow- 

 ing your keys and seeds among them the ensuing 

 Spring, and that continued as oft as you find stamp- 

 ings and keys to be had, even till your wood be 

 perfectly furnished, only taking care that they lie not 

 long too thick, because it will heat and burn the 

 kernels, and therefore let them be put into the ground 

 as soon as they are press'd or else lay them thin or 

 parted with straw. 



In case your land be poor, and wanting depth, or 

 but indifferent, observing the posture of your ground, 

 divide it into four yards distance at both extreams, 

 by small stakes, making rows of them by setting up 

 some few between them to direct, and lay your work 

 straight, ploughing one yard of each side of the 

 stakes, if the ground be green-sward for the easier 

 running of the roots: Having thus ploughed two 

 yards, and left two unploughed through your whole 

 piece some short time before planting season, so soon 

 as the fall of the leaf begins, dig up the unplough'd 

 interstices, laying one half of the earth on the un- 



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