"SINGLING" THE CROP. 303 



and the plants have put forth their second pair of leaves, 

 the horse-hoe should be sent in between the rows, and the 

 spaces carefully cleared, and the cutting out or " bunching" 

 in the drills proceeded with, as soon as the state of the 

 soil and the weather will permit. This may be done by 

 hand with a broad-bladed hoe, taking a cut of 9 inches, 

 and then leaving about 3 inches in the drill untouched 

 all along its length ; or it may be done on the flat, by 

 using the expanding horse-hoe (Garrett's or Smith's) across 

 the drills, with its tines set at the above distances, so as 

 to cut away spaces of 9 inches, and pass the plants on the 

 intermediate spaces of 3 inches wide. On the ridge, too, 

 a recently contrived machine (Garrett's) effects the same 

 purpose by travelling along the ridge, and cutting out the 

 plants at given intervals by means of a set of knives, 

 fixed spirally on a skeleton frame, to which a circular 

 motion, at right angles to the line of draught, is communi- 

 cated from the wheels of the machine. 



By "bunching out" at an early period of their growth, 

 the plants that are left to furnish the crop have greater 

 exposure to air and light, assume a more vigorous growth, 

 and in about a week's time are ready for the next opera- 

 tion, that of " singling/' This is usually performed by 

 adult labour, with a short-handled hoe, the superfluous 

 plants being pushed from, rather than drawn to the labourer 

 in the process, care being taken to leave the best plant 

 for the crop. Too commonly, however, these two opera- 

 tions are done at the same time, and but little care bestowed 

 upon them, whether by the regular labourer of the farm, 

 or by strangers at " piecework." The plants are cut away 

 indiscriminately, and frequently the one that is left has 

 been injured by the hoe, and never afterwards recovers 

 from its effects. To guard against this constant source of 

 injury to the crop, children have been employed to pull 

 the surplus plants with their fingers, taking care that the 



