PATCH SOWING. 267 



together for that purpose. Hence on such slopes, the lines of 

 patches should run up and down hill, so that each workman on his 

 own line would use the patch last made as a foothold for the prepa- 

 ration of the immediately higher one. The lines of patches should 

 as much as possible deviate from the lines of steepest descent, other- 

 wise they would soon become watercourses. 



4. Preparation of the patches. 



In preparing the patches the use of any but hand tools is of 

 course out of the question, although no doubt, before the making 

 of the patches is actually taken in hand, the ground may under 

 favourable circumstances be ploughed up or harrowed or hoed up 

 in lines coinciding with the lines of the future patches. The dig- 

 ging and grubbing tools would be the same as those used in making 

 strips. As the patches aggregate a much smaller cultivated area 

 (roughly one-half to one-third) than the same extent of strip sow- 

 ing, the soil should generally be prepared more deeply and much 

 more carefully than in that system and may, in some cases, even be 

 manured. Small patches on flat ground where weeds are not 

 heavy and the soil is neither stony nor full of strong roots, may bo 

 prepared with the torsion rake (Fig. 93). 



5. Sowing of the patches. 



For the same reason that the soil should be better cultivated, the 

 sowing should be thicker than under similar conditions in the strip 

 system. When the seeds are small, a pinch of them may be scat- 

 tered with the hand and covered over with the aid of a light rake 

 or brush of twigs. If the seeds are large enough to be sown 

 regularly, they should be put into the ground according to a fixed 

 pattern, which will be different according to the size and quality 

 of the seeds, the prevailing conditions of soil and climate, the 

 nature of the seedlings produced and the object to be accomplished. 

 The seeds may be dibbled in with the forefinger and thumb or with 

 a small dibber ; but a more simple, neat and expeditious plan, 

 which also ensures the most perfect uniformity of distribution and 

 depth of sowing, is to use a strong board of the same size and 

 shape as the patches and studded on the lower side, according to 

 the given sowing pattern, with pegs or spikes long and thick 

 enough to make holes in the soil of the required depth and dia- 

 meter. The other side of the board should be furnished with some 

 sort of convenient handle, with which to hold and manoeuvre the 

 board. The board being placed accurately on a patch, is pressed 

 or trod upon until the entire length of the pegs or spikes is buried 



