338 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



previous to planting. When a suitable season offers then, 

 get all the force of the farm into requisition, and have them 

 planted at once. If the seed-beds have become hard, they 

 will either require a profuse watering, or the plants must 

 be loosened by a fork, so as to prevent injury to the roots 

 when drawing. 



" The mode of planting should be something like this : 

 The land should be ridged and manured the same as for 

 swedes or mangels, and rolled down. The plants should be 

 puddled i. e., a small hole, or hollow, should be made near 

 to the planting ; a puddle of the consistency of " hasty pud- 

 ding" or thick treacle should be made therein, into which the 

 roots of the plants should be all set or dipped, and fetched 

 therefrom as wanted. The readiest way of planting is by 

 the common spade. The workmen have each a lad to put 

 in the plant as a hole is made with the spade. With one 

 foot he presses the earth to the plant; and, advancing the 

 other, a fresh hole is made by striking in the spade. In 

 this way, at a somewhat irregular walk, a clever workman 

 will set several thousands in a day i. e., at every step a 

 hole is made, and a plant secured. It is true, good may be 

 done by watering plants in dry season? ; but it is far better 

 to be prepared early, and get them in as judgment dictates. 

 It is rare to secure a good crop in dry seasons by watering." 



145. Rape is another of the crops grown for its leaves, 

 and is specially valuable for sheep feeding, although cows 

 are very fond of it, and it adds largely to their yield of 

 milk. The plant is best adapted for cultivation in districts 

 where light sandy soils are met with, although, with care 

 in their preparation, it may be grown in a wide variety of 

 soils. The plant belongs to the same order and genus as 

 the cabbage, the species being two, the smooth-leaved sum- 

 mer rape, brassica campestris, and the rough-leaved winter 

 rape, or brassica napus ; the last-named species is that best 

 adapted for heavy, the first for light soils. 



146. Rape, like the kohl rabi, may be cultivated in two 

 ways sown at once in the drill or flat, or in a seed-bed, 

 and transplanted; the latter is the usual method, and that 



