NO. 10. 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



147 



as Great Britain, and is annually extending 

 itself, and doubtless will continue to do so, 

 as in- general it produces considerably better 

 crops with so great a saving in the seed. The 

 only objection which can be made to it is the 

 expense of setting it, and the great number 

 of hands it requires; more indeed tlian can at 

 any rate in many places be procured. In an- 

 swer to the first objection, the price of plant- 

 ing by hand is very little in proportion to the 

 increase ofproduce, and the value of the seed 

 saved. The second objection is entirely ob- 

 viated by the many instruments lately in- 

 vented for sowing the seed very regularly at 

 any required deptli and distance either in 

 close drilling to be hand-hoed, or in open 

 drillint with intervals of a proper width for 

 horse-hoeing-. 



Tillage. ^ 



Improvements in tillage maytiuly be said 

 to be the basis, or real foundation, on which 

 the successful introduction of all the new ar- 

 ticles of field culture depend. When the: 

 ground is well tilled, it is in the most per-] 

 feet condition for receiving the fertilizing! 

 principles of the atmosphere. Rain, snow,! 

 hail, dows, and hoar frost, &c. convey thei 

 nutriment of vegetation, which floats in the 

 air, must plentifully into the bosom of thei 

 earth, as deep as it has been broken, and, 

 well pulverized. It is the only effectual! 

 mean of rooting out weeds, so necessary to 

 the beneficial growth of all crops, and should | 

 be repeated till they are in a great measure 

 destroyed. The roots and fibres of weeds 

 are the ligaments and braces which in a great 

 measure knii and bind the clods together, and 

 are indissoluble, till by being exposed to the 

 action of the air, the roots within rot and de- 

 cay, and the clods, almost by their own 

 gravity, expand into small crumbles, and are 

 reduced to a perfect state of pulverization. 



The destroying of weeds, however, is not 

 the only immediate benefit accruing from a 

 due state of tillage; grubs, beetles, worms, 

 and maggots of many different kinds, which 

 abound in most fields, may be greatly dimin- 

 ished, if not entirely extirpated by the well- 

 timed use of the plough, and its auxiliary 

 instruments necessary to the reduction of the 

 soil. Nothing so effectually prevents the 

 ravages of the several tribes of subterraneous 

 insects, as the frequent stirring and crum- 

 bling the ground. Large patches, of several 

 poles square, in a field of beans, are fre- 

 quently destroyed by the grub of the cock- 

 chaffer ; and many hundreds of cabbage plants 

 by a kind of grey grub of less size. Both 

 these execute their mischief under ground. 

 The first eats the roots of the beans even 

 xvhen in kid, when they wither, fall, and die ; 



[and the latter bites off the stem of the plant 

 just under the surface. Tillage duly per- 

 formed, always destroys the whole race. 



The improvement the soil acquirv>s by 

 means of frequent and well-timed tillage, is 

 gradual and progressive, and the longer it is 

 kept in tillage, if duly performed, the more 

 fertile it becomes. One ploughing in the 

 begiiming of winter, and a second early in 

 the spring, will be more effectual in pulveriz- 

 ing the soil than half a dozen at any other 

 time of the year. This improvement in til- 

 lage is so very clear and certain, that it sur- 

 prises one much that it is not universally 

 practised. 



Farmers' IVork. 



Sewing Seeds op Garden Vegetables 

 IN Autumn. — Many things which are usual- 

 ly sown in the spring, would be better sown 

 in the fall; and especially when we consider 

 how little time there is for doing all things in 

 the spring. Parsneps, carrots, beets, onions, 

 and many other seedti may be safely sown in 

 autumn. The seeds will not perish if cover- 

 ed by the earth. Cabbages, parsneps, car- 

 rots, spinach and onions are sowed to the 

 best advantage in the fall, when it is desira- 

 ble to get them early the next season. 

 Miller's Gardener's Dictionary says, "to 

 cultivate parsneps, sow the seed in autumn, 

 soon after they are ripe ; by which means the 

 seed will come early in the following spring, 

 and let the plants get strong before the weeds 

 grow up to injure them. The young plants 

 never materially suffer through the severity 

 of the season." 



Cobbstt's American Gardener asserts that 

 " early peas would be best sown in the fall, 

 could you have an assurance against mice. 

 We all know what a bustle there is to get in 

 early peas. If they were sown in the fall 

 they would start up the moment the frost was 

 out of the ground, and would be ten days 

 earlier in bearing in spite of every effort 

 made by the spring sowers to overtake them j 

 Upon a spot where I sowed peas for seed, 

 last year, some that were left in a lock of 

 haulm at the harvesting, and that lay upon 

 the dry ground till the land was ploughed 

 late in November, came up in the spring the 

 moment the frost was out of the ground; and 

 they were in bloom full fifteen days earlier 

 than those sown in the same field as early as 

 possible in the spring. In some cases it 

 would be a good way to cover the sown 

 ground with litter, or with leaves of trees as 

 soon as the frost is fairly set in ; but not be- 

 fore, for if you do it before, the seed may 

 vegetate, and then may be killed by the 

 frost. One object for this fall sowing is to 

 get the work done ready for the spring; tor 



