APRIL'. 20Q 



but let not a farmer ever venture lucern upon land 

 that by some method, whatever it may be, is not 

 rendered quite clean. 



4. In regard to. the mode of sowing, the great- 

 est success by far that has been known, is by 

 the broad cast method, which is nearly universal 

 among the best lucern farmers, even among men 

 who admire and pnctis^ tlu j drill husbandry in 

 many other articles. But as they mostly (not all) 

 depend on severe harrowing, for keeping their 

 crops clean, which is a troublesome and expensive 

 operation, I shall venture to recommend drilling, 

 but very different drilling from that which has been 

 almost universally pr.rt' - I. viz. at distances of 18 

 inches or two feet. Objections to these wide in- 

 tervals are numerous. If kept clean hoed, the 

 lucern licks up so much dirt, being beaten to the 

 earth by rain, &c. that it is unwholesome, and the 

 plants spread so into these spaces, that it must be 

 reaped, which is a great and useless expence. For 

 these reasons, as well <is for superiority of crop, I 

 recommend drilling at nine inches, which, in point 

 of produce, mowing, and freedom from dirt, is the 

 same as broad-cast; and another advantage is, that 

 it admits a scarifying once a year, which is much 

 more powerful and effective than any harrowing. 

 These facts are sufficient to weigh so much with, 

 any reasonable man, as to induce him to adopt this 

 inode of drilling, as nearer to broad- cast by far 

 than it is to drills at 18 or 24 inches, which open 

 to a quite different system, and a set of very differ- 



p ent 



