ON ROOT CROPS. 75 



and soil as a manure gave me good ruta bagas, I pre- 

 pared to use the same this year, excepting that I would 

 so far vary the compost as to see whether part muck, or 

 meadow-mud, and sand would not be as good as all soil, 

 for receiving the bone and ley. Having a heap of soil, 

 six or eight loads, already formed, 1 brought to it, 

 March 9th, seven loads of sand, a sand holding water, 

 taken from near the meadow. And on the 18th, I car- 

 ried also five loads of meadow mud. These three in- 

 gredients w^ere formed into a basin; then over the sur- 

 face of the basin I spread fifteen bushels of crushed 

 bone, and about the first of April run into it one load, 

 six hundred gallons of salt ley. In a day or two after, 

 this heap was thrown over. Again in May it was thrown 

 over. On the 7th of June it was spread out upon the 

 land. My directions were to spread at the rate of 

 twenty loads to the half acre. 1 had hauled to the heap, 

 as I thought, enough to make twenty loads; but the sand 

 seemed to have been feeding so greedily upon the mead- 

 ow mud, or to have been so busy in grinding it down to 

 powder, that the meadovv mud was hardly to be discov- 

 ered; it had shrunk. The heap furnished only fifteen 

 loads. To finish out the piece I went to a well ferment- 

 ed heap of barn-cellar compost, of as good quality as any 

 that I have made during the year, and took four loads, 

 applying it at the same rate as the other. Thus nine- 

 teen loads covered the piece. This dressing was im- 

 mediately harrowed in. The ground w^as then left for a 

 few days, when it was again well harrowed. June 20th, 

 I directed my men to turn the land into ridges, thirty 

 inches apart, and sow the seed on the ridges, and to be 

 particular as to the width. After they had gone over the 

 ground, they found that they had not ridges enough. 

 " That won't do," said they. " We must harrow it 

 down, and try again." They did so. I give this nar- 

 ration, because I think the mistake caused a very good 

 preparation of the ground. The seed — imported seed — 

 had been soaked in tanner's oil eighteen hours, and was 

 sowed one row on a ridge, June 20. 



July 6th, went between the rows with the cultivator. 



