DRILLING DISTANCES APART. 473 



hoe during the full period of their growth. Their habit 

 of growth, however, does not require the amount of space 

 recommended for the other root crops; from 15 to 18 

 inches would admit the horse-hoe, and at the same time 

 give sufficient width for the plants to have full access to 

 the air and light. 



It is generally found beneficial to drill in with the seed 

 some manurial substances, in order to afford the young 

 plant at starting a supply of food, which it would not so 

 readily meet with in the surface soil after its exposure to 

 the solvent powers of the winter's rain. For such pur- 

 pose Peruvian guano is the best fertilizer that can be 

 applied ; and if about double or treble the quantity of 

 good field or coal ashes can be obtained to mix with it, 

 the double purpose is served of diluting the concentrated 

 manure, and of securing round the young plant a loose and 

 permeable soil, which will induce a more vigorous growth, 

 and aid its general powers of development. As soon as 

 the young plants are fairly up, and the line of drilling 

 marked out by the cereal plants, the horse-hoes may be 

 sent in, provided the condition of the soil and the weather 

 be suitable, and the spaces between the drills cleared of 

 weeds. In about three weeks or a month after sowing, 

 and the young plants have acquired a growth of about 3 

 inches high, they should be " bunched out" with a narrow- 

 bladed hoe, taking a 4 to a 6 inch cut, and leaving spaces 

 untouched about half that width all along the drills. The 

 plants left should then be singled out by careful children, 

 in the manner described at page 303, for turnips, care being 

 taken to leave the healthiest and most vigorous plants, so 

 that they may stand at about 6 to 9 inch distances in the 

 drill. 



With the exception of hoeing, which should be well 

 followed up as long as a weed remains on the surface, the 

 crop needs no more attention until harvest time. This 



