Madura Htdfre Culture. 333 



may be frozen equally. After freezing-, the seed must be kept as 



moist and cool as possible to prevent sprouting before the weather 



is right, or the ground in order for planting. To prepare the seed 



for sprouting without the freezing process, it is necessary to soak 



it in warm water about a week, 



keeping the vessel near the stove, 



or in a warm room, and changing 



the water once a day, after which 



the water should be turned off, ^ 



and the seed kept covered with a ,^ Msj^K 



damp cloth ; stir frequently, and :^^^ 



in about another week, if the 



room is kept warm, the seed will ^^^^'« ^^ h^^^^- 



commence sprouting. They should be planted before the radicles 



are half an inch in length, or the roots will grow crooked. 



The ground for the seed bed should be rich and deeply stirred, 

 and it should be finely pulverized, and free from weed seeds. 

 " New ground" is best. The drills for the seed may be made with 

 a hand rake, with but two broad teeth a foot apart, drawn by a 

 line stretched across the ground, thus making two drills at once, 

 wide and rather shallow, unless the ground is likely to be dry, in 

 which case the drills should be at least two inches deep. 



In these drills sow the seed regularly, about twenty-five to the 

 foot. Before the seeds have time to dry, cover them about two 

 inches deep with fine, mellow soil. Two feet space should be left 

 between the double rows, and if the cultivator is to be used, three 

 feet is necessary. If the seed is in right condition when plant- 

 ed, and the weather is moist and warm, the plants will begin to 

 appear in a week or ten days. The ground must be kept loose 

 and free from weeds. If the plants are too thick in patches, the 

 small ones should be thinned out about midsummer. Evenness in 

 the size of the plants is a most important point. 



The plants should gi-ow sufficiently large the first season to set 

 in hedge rows. It is found safer to take up the plants in the fall. 

 So soon as the frost kills the leaves, the plants may be mowed at 

 a uniform height, of about four inches. The roots in a free soil 

 strike deep, and they must be cut about eight inches below the 

 surface. This is best done with a subsoil cutter or plow, without 

 the mould board. It is drawn by a strong team, and may be 



