Chap. XII, Of St. Foin. 169 



At whatever Diftance the Rows be fet, if they 

 have too many Plants in them, the Crop will be very 

 much injured; and the greater the Excefs is beyond 

 the juft Number, the more void Space there will be 

 amongft them-, becaufe the fmaller the Plants are, the 

 lefs Ground they cover. 



I have had the Experience of drilling at all Di- 

 stances, from Thirty-three Inches to Seven Inches, 

 betwixt the Rows-, and recommend the following 

 Diftance, for the different Methods of drilling; whe- 

 ther the St. Foin be defign'd for hoeing, or not. As, 



Firft, For Herfe-hoeing % I thinly it is beft to drill 

 double Rows with Eight-inch Partitions, and Thirty- 

 inch Intervals; which need only be ho'd alternately, leav- 

 ing every other Interval for making the Hay thereon. 



Indeed I have never yet had a whole Field of ho'd 

 St. Foin ; but have enough to fhew, that Horfe-hoe- 

 ing makes it ftrong upon very poor Land, and caufes 

 it to produce two Crops a Year upon indifferent Land. 



It is not neceffary to hoe this every Year; but we 

 may intermit the Hoeing for three or four Years to- 

 gether, or more, if the Land be good. 



Whilft the Plants are fmall the firft Year, Care muft 

 be taken not to cover them with the Plough : After- 

 wards there will be no great Danger, efpecially in Win- 

 ter, theEarth not being luffered to lie on them toolong. 



Secondly, For Hand-hoeing^ drill the Rows Sixteen 

 Inches afunder, and fingle out the Plants, fo as to 

 make them Eight Inches apart at leaft in the Rows, 

 contriving rather to leave the Mafter-plants, than to 

 be exact in the Diftance : This muft be done whilft 

 they are very young, or in Summer ; elfe they will 

 come again that are cut off by the Hoe. 



Laftly, when St. Foin is drilled without any In- 

 tention of hoeing, the beft Way (I think) is to plant 

 fingle Rows, at Eight Inches Diftance, with no 

 greater Quantity of Seed, than when the Rows are at 

 Sixteen Inches Diftance ; becaufe, by this Method, the 



fame 



