78 WORCESTER SOCIETY. 



to pass between the rows, and a light pine handle with a com- 

 mon goose-neck fastened with a rivet in the centre. 



This instrument was run through the rows, which were 18 

 inches apart, as hghtly as possible, once a week ; consequently, 

 it took off all the weeds much easier than it could have been done 

 with a common hoe. This hoe or piece of scythe was not more 

 than two and a half inches wide, so that, by running it through 

 so often, the ground was kept very light and free from weeds. 

 We thinned the rows and pulled out the weeds by hand but 

 once, and all the rest was done with this hoe. None of this 

 hoeing was done while the dew was on, or in wet days, but 

 from ten to three, while the sun shone the hottest. In this way, 

 the hoe going not more than half or three-fourths of an inch 

 under ground, and the weeds and loose dirt falling over the back 

 of the hoe, left the soil in so loose a condition, that the heat of 

 the sun destroyed all the weeds at once, which, if the work had 

 been done in dull weather, would have sprung up with more 

 vigor than before, and the plant itself been injured. 



The two and a half pecks of guano were spread broadcast on 

 two different parts of the field without much apparent effect. 



The carrots were not harvested until the 14th of November, 

 and, I think, they continued to grow until harvest. 



At harvest, the tops were cut with a common grass scythe, 

 and raked; and one of Ruggles, Nourse & Mason's sub-soil 

 ploughs, with the flange on, was run so close to the rows that 

 the carrots were picked out without the aid of a spade or bar. 

 This plough I consider the best instrument we have for digging 

 out carrots, and I suppose no one will dispute its qualities for 

 stirring the ground before planting. I feel confident that, if I 

 had used it before planting, and had manured in proportion to 

 the depth, with the same labor, I should have been a great gainer 

 in the end. 



My crop of sugar-beets entered for the Society's premium was 

 raised on thirty-six rods of land belonging to the same field, and 

 next adjoining my carrots, and was treated in the same manner 

 that my carrots were, the seed, three-fourths lbs., sown the same 

 day with seed-sower, the rows were full twenty inches wide, 

 nd the work was weeded with the same hoe and in the same 

 manner that the carrots were. I allowed the plants to stand 



