102 RUTA BAGA CULTURE. Part I. 



preparation of the land generally ; and in doing 

 this, I shall suppose the land to have borne a good 

 crop of wheat the preceding year, and, of course, 

 to be in good heart, as we call it in England. 



94. I would plough this ground in the fall into 

 ridges four feet asunder. The ploughing should 

 be very deep, and the ridges well laid up. In 

 this situation it would, by the successive frosts 

 and thaws be shaken and broken fine as powder 

 by March or April. In April, it should be turned 

 back ; always ploughing deep, A crop of weed* 

 would be well set upon it by the first of June, 

 when they should be smothered by another turn- 

 ing back. Then, about the third week in June, 

 I would carry in my manure, and fling it along in 

 the trenches or furrows. After this I would fol- 

 low the turning back for the sowing, as is directed 

 in Paragraph 50. Now, here Sire four ploughing s. 

 And what is the cost of these ploughings ? My 

 man, a black man, a native of this island, ploughs 

 with his pair of oxen and no driver an acre and a 

 half a day^ and his oxen keep their flesh extreme- 

 ly well upon the refuse of the Ruta Baga which I 

 send to market. What is the cost then ? And, 

 what a fine state the ground is thus brought into ! 

 A very different thing indeed is it to plough hard 

 ground from what it is to plough ground in this fine, 

 broken state. Besides, every previous ploughing, 

 especially deep ploughing, is equal to a seventh 

 part of an ordinary coat of manure. 



95. In the broad-cast method I would give the 

 same number of previous ploughings, and at the 

 same seasons of the year. I would spread the 

 manure over the ground just before I ploughed 

 it for sowing. Then, when I ploughed for the \ 

 sowing, I would, if I had only one pair of oxen, 

 plough about half an acre, harrow the ground, 

 sow it immediately, and roll it with a light roller, * 

 which a little horse might draw, in order to press i 



