C 94 ) 
them a light covering of ashes, which, by quicken- 
ing the growth of the plants and leaching on their 
leaves at the same time, better protects them against 
the fly than any other means practicable on a large 
scale, with which we are acquainted.(1) When the 
plants attain the height of four inches, we set the 
horse hoe to work; running a furrow the whole 
length or breadth of the field, and returning with 
another, at the distance of three feet from the for- 
mer, and so continuing the work, till the whole is 
laid off into beds of that width. What we lose by 
this method, is only the seed buried by the horse 
hoe; what we gain, is the manure created by the 
young plants, ploughed in between the beds, and 
the advantage of being able to weed and work those 
left standing for the crop. This part of the labor, 
which immediately follows the horse hoeing, is ex- 
peditiously performed by two men, travelling in the 
furrows, one on each side of a bed, and employing 
themselves in thinning and hand hoeing the surplus 
plants. These operations of ploughing and weeding, 
may be performed a second and even a third time, 
with advantage. 
If we determine to plough in the crop as manure, 
we should do it while the ground retains a tempera- 
ture favorable to the decomposition of the plants, 
and before the frost has diminished their volume, or 
altered their juices. If, on the other hand, we de- 
cide on feeding off the crop on the ground, it is but 
(1) On a small scale, water, in which potatoes have been boiled, is believed to be 
very usefal in protecting cabbage, turnips and other plants, from the atiacks of the 
fly. We are ina course of experiments, which will determine how far this remeds~ 
may be relied on. 
