Chap. If. RUTA BAGA CULTURE. $f 



ble twist of the setting stick, or dibble ; a thing very 

 well known to all gardeners in the case of cabba- 

 ges, and about which, therefore, I will give, by and 

 by, very plain instructions. 



72. Thus puzzled, and not being able to spare 

 time to do the job myself, I was one day looking 

 at my poor plants, which were daily suflering for 

 want of removal, and was thinking how glad I should 

 be of one of the Churcher's at Botley, who, I 

 thought to myself, would soon clap me out my tur- 

 nip patch. At this very time, and into the field 

 itself, came a cousin of one of these Churchers, 

 who had lately arrived from England ! It was very 

 strangle ; but literally the fact. 



73. To work Churcher and I went, and, with 

 the aid of persons to pull up the plants and bring 

 fhem to us, we planted out about two acres, in the 

 ^nornings and evenings of six days; for the wea.ther 

 was too hot for us to keep out after breakfast, un- 

 til about two hours before sunset. There was a 

 friend staying with me, who helped us plant, and 

 who did, indeed, as much of the wopk as either 

 Churcher or I. 



74. The time when this was done was from the 

 21st to the 28th o{ August, one Sunday and one day 

 of no planting, having intermitted. Every body 

 knows, that this is the very hottest season of the 

 year; and, as it happened, this was, last summer, 

 the very driest also. The weather had been hot 

 and dry from the tenth of Ang^ist ; and so it conti- 

 nued to the \2th of September. Any gentleman 

 who has kept a journal of last year, upon Long 

 Island, will know this to be correct. Who would 

 have thought to see these plants thrive ? Who 

 would have thought to see them live? The next 

 day after being planted, their leaves crumbled be- 

 tween our fingers like the old leaves of trees. In 

 two days there was no more appearance of a crop 

 upon the ground than there was of a crop on the. 



