CHAP. IV. 



SWEDES. 



953 



land. In most rotations it follows the wheat crop, and is itself a fallow 

 or cleaning crop, the main cleaning operations of the rotation being 

 carried out during the time the land is being prepared for sowing it. 

 The land should be broken up as early as possible after harvest, and 

 if a thorough autumn tilling can be managed it will prove of great gain 

 in the spring, when there is always a rush of work. If ploughed in the 

 autumn the land should be untouched during winter, and it is generally 

 not convenient to do anything but manure it until after the spring corn 

 crops are sown. The dung should be put on in a partly fermented 

 condition as early as convenient, special advantage being taken of 

 frost, to avoid the injury which is done by carting on land when it is 

 moist and soft. When an opportunity offers, the land should be ploughed 



Fig. 444. Purple-Top Turnip. 



a second time, and then worked with stirring implements to get rid of 

 couch and thistles, and at the same time to produce that disintegration 

 of the soil resulting in tilth. A good mellow tilth is essential to the 

 crop, and the endeavour must be to reduce the soil to a fine condition 

 without allowing the small particles to become harsh or " nubbley." 

 When the land is clean, and in a fit condition for seeding, it will gene- 

 rally be found advisable to put in a dressing of superphosphate of lime. 

 When no farmyard manure is available, nitrate of soda and sulphate or 

 muriate of potash should also be applied. 



There are two methods of drilling in the manure with the seed, by 

 the dry ash drill, and by the liquid manure drill, descriptions of which 

 will be found in the Implement section (Book the Eighth). The 

 method described is known as drilling on the " flat," and this is most 

 commonly practised on light soils in dry climates. The other system 

 is known as drilling on the ridge or bout, and is practised on heavy 

 soils, or in districts where there is a large annual rainfall, the raised 



