134 THE PRACTICE OF THE 



ground all round will continue dry. Or till a 

 field in lands, make one land very fine by fre- 

 quent deep ploughings, and let another be 

 rough by inefficient tillage, alternately ; 

 then plough the field crofs-ways, in the drieft 

 weather^ that has continued long dry ; he 

 will perceive, by the colour of the earth, that 

 every fine land will turn up moift, but every 

 rough land will be dry as powder from top to 

 bottom. Hence it appears, that good hoe- 

 Ing, by opening and pulverifing the foil, lets 

 the dews into it, which penetrates as deep into 

 It, as it is well hoed ; and that the rnoifture 

 this communicated to it by deep hoeing, is not 

 exhaled by the fun or drought ; but that it 

 continues to retain ftill moifture fufficient to 

 refrefh the roots of plants that grow in it. 



This great benefit is obfervable in all land 

 that is well and deep-hoed, and is-a fingular 

 advantage to all plants in dry foils peculiar 

 to the New Hufbandry. We find a remark- 

 able inftance of this related in M. DuhameFs 

 Hufbandry, of fome cabbages that were cul- 

 tiyated by deep-hoeing ; which are plants that 

 require 'much moifture : and they were kept 

 fo moift by this hoeing, in dry hot weather, 

 that they Hood upright, and their leaves re- 

 mained juicy and crifp : but at the fame time, 

 fome of the fame cabbages, that: grew in the 

 gentleman's garden who tried this experiment, 

 drooped in tht middle of the day, notwith- 

 ftanding their being carefully watered every 



day 



