398 THE MUSTARD CROP. 



the growth of weeds is equally vigorous with the growth 

 of the plant, and wide spaces give opportunities for the use 

 of the hoe in keeping the surface clean, and the crop 

 gives all the advantages of a regular fallow cultivation. 

 At a later season stubble sowing, for instance a light 

 furrow, with a moderate dose of a suitable artificial 

 manure, is all the preparation that can be given ; and as 

 the weeds that germinate will not have time to come to 

 maturity, the object of drilling for the purpose of clean- 

 ing the land no longer exists, and the seed may safely 

 be sown with the usual broadcast barrow, the light 

 seed-harrows and roller finishing the operation. 



In all cases the feeding off of the crop should be com- 

 menced before flowering, as immediately that process is 

 begun the functions of the plant undergo a change, and its 

 feeding properties immediately begin to decrease ; the sub- 

 stances stored up in its tissues are now required to carry 

 on the changes the organism of the plant is undergoing, 

 and to support its new duties of reproduction forming 

 and maturing its seed. In feeding it off with sheep, it is 

 always recommended to give some other food at the same 

 time, of a drier nature, or to run them on the stubbles or 

 an old grass field, between each time of giving a fresh 

 break of mustard. 



Mustard is a very useful crop, too, to the farmer 

 as a green manure, to be ploughed in as a preparation 

 for a corn crop, where the field is in poor condition, 

 and the stock of farmyard dung too small to improve 

 it. For this purpose, it is best to broadcast it pretty 

 thick upon the ground, and at the proper time to run 

 a light roller (if ribbed so much the more efficient) 

 over it previous to ploughing it in. The work is always 

 better done, and the vegetable matter is decomposed more 

 speedily, than when buried in a comparatively unbroken 

 state. On strong soils and for spring crops the effect 



