CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 137 



with a hoe, first hauling in the furrow raised on each side of the drill; then 

 carefully take from the centre of the space the soil to finish the covering to the 

 depth of three and a half or four inches. By taking the earth from the centre 

 of the space on either side to the width of three inches, it will leave a drain 

 of six inches in the centre of the space, and a hill of fourteen inches in width, 

 gently descending from the drill to the drain; the width and depth of the drill 

 will be sufficient to protect the plant against any injurious effects of a scorch- 

 ing sun or drenching rain. The drains in the centre will at all times be found 

 sufficient to admit the surplus water to pass off. I am not at all tenacious 

 about the instrument to be made use of for opening the trenches to receive the 

 manure and potatoes; this work should be well done, and may be performed 

 with a common hoe with much uniformity and accuracy, by stretching a line 

 to direct the operation. It is true that the labour cannot be performed with 

 the same facility as with a horse; but it can be better done, and I think at less 

 expense, taking into consideration the labour of the man to hold, the boy to 

 ride, and the horse to draw the machine. 



Dressing, Hoeing, fyc. When the plant makes its appearance above the sur- 

 face, the following mixture may be used: For each acre take one bushel of 

 plaster and two bushels of good ashes, and sow it broadcast as even as possible. 

 A moist day is preferable for this operation; for want of it, a still evening will 

 do. I consider this mixture decidedly more beneficial and much safer than 

 plaster or ashes alone. The alkali and nitre contained in the ashes loses none 

 of its fertilizing qualities in a moist season, and the invaluable properties of 

 the plaster are fully developed in a dry one, by decomposing the atmosphere 

 and retaining to a much later period in the morning the moisture of the even- 

 ing dews. There are but few plants in our country that receive so great a 

 share of their nourishment from the atmosphere as the potato. The time for 

 dressing or hoeing will be found difficult to describe, and must be left to the 

 judgment of the cultivator. It should, however, in all climates, be done as 

 early as the first buds for blossoms make their appearance. 



The operation of hilling should be performed once and once only during the 

 season. If repeated after the potato is formed, it will cause young shoots to 

 spring up, which retards the growth of the potato and diminishes its size. If 

 weeds spring up at any time, they should be kept down by the hand or hoe, 

 which can be done without disturbing the growing stalk. 



My manner of hoeing or hilling is not to haul in the earth from the spaces 

 between the hills or rows, but to bring on fresh earth sufficient to raise the hill 

 around the plant one and a half or two inches; in a we!, season the lesser quan- 

 tity will be sufficient. in a dry one the larger will not be found too much. 

 The substance for this purpose may consist of the scrapings of ditches or filthy 

 streets the earth from a barn-yard that requires levelling where convenient 

 it may be taken from swamps, marshes, the beds and banks of rivers, or small 

 sluggish streams at low water. If planted on a clay soil, fresh loam taken at 

 any depth from the surface, even if it partakes largely of fine sand, will be 

 found an excellent top dressing. If planted on a loamy soil, the earth taken 

 from clay-pits, clay or slaty soil, will answer a valuable purpose. In fact, 

 there are but few farms in the country but what may be furnished with some 

 suitable substance for top drosing if sought for. The hoeing and hilling may 

 be performed with facility by the aid of a horse and cart; the horse travelling 

 in the centre of a space between the drills the cart wheels occupying the two 

 adjoining ones thereby avoiding any disturbance or injury to the growing 

 plants. The time for collecting the top dressing may be regulated by the far- 

 mer's own convenience, the earlier the better, deposited in large piles in or 

 near the potato field, in the most suitable place for distribution. 



I have frequently tried bed-planting, (or planting in beds,) with uniform 

 success. On moist lands, in a stifFor heavy soil, I consider it preferable to any 

 other mode. To do it properly, lay your land in beds of from ten to twenty 

 feet in width, raised in the centre w'ith a plough by back furrowing, after the 

 .last harrowing, which should be thoroughly done, is performed, and left 

 crowning with a gradual descent from the centre to the alleys. The proper 

 width and height of the beds must depend on the situation of the land, and 

 may be regulated by the judgment of the cultivator. In clearing the alleys, 



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