Chap. II. RXJTA BAGA CULTURE. 89 



69: However, Mr. Curwen, in his book, gives 

 an account of the wonderful eff'ects of moving the 

 ground between plants in rows ; and he tells us of 

 an experiment, which he made, and which proved, 

 that from ground just ploughed, in a very dry time, 

 an exhalation of many tons weight, per acre, took 

 place, during the first twenty-four hours after 

 ploughing, and of a less and less number of tons, 

 during the three or four succeeding twenty-four 

 hours ; that, in the course of about a week, the 

 exhalation ceased ■; and that, during the v/hole pe- 

 riod, the ground, though in the same field, which 

 had not been ploughed when the other ground was, 

 exhaled 7iot an ounce ! When I read tliis in Mr. 

 Curwen's book, which was before I had read Tull, 

 I called to mind, that, having once dug the ground 

 between some rows of part of a plot of cabbages in 

 my garden, in order to plant some late peas, I per- 

 ceived (it was in a dry time) the cabbages, the next 

 morning, in the part recently dug, with big drops 

 of dew hanging on the edges of the leaves, and in 

 the other, or undug part of the plot, no drops at 

 all. I had forgotten the fact 'till I read Mr. Cur- 

 WEN ; and I never knew the cause 'till I read the 

 real Father of English Husbandry, 



70. From this digression I return to the history^ 

 first of my English transplanting. I saw, at once, 

 that the only way to insure a crop of turnips was 

 by transplantation. The next year, therefore, J 

 prepared a field of five acres and another of 

 tTnelve. I made ridges^ in the manner described 

 for sowing ; and, on the 7th of June, in the first 

 field, and on the 20th of July, in the second field, 

 I planted my plants. I ascertained to an exactness, 

 that there were thirty-three tons to an acre, through- 

 out the whole seventeen acres. After this, I never 

 used any other method. I never saiv above half 

 as great a crop in any other person's land ; and, 

 though we read of much greater in agricultural 

 8* ^ ■ 



