52 



gowns, and linsey-wolsey petticoats, and the younger 

 ones had their hair in paper curls. Pray, my dear, 

 said I to the youngest and best looking- of them, 

 (thoug-h, to tell the honest truth, she would have l)een 

 considered a very ugly girl in this country,) pray, said 

 I to this Scotch beauty — what are you doing ? weed- 

 ing, Sir — weeding, my dear ! where are the weeds ? 

 After hoeing close to the heans for a little time, she 

 pulled up a very small piece of scutch or couch grass, 

 which she held up in triumph, as much as to say, 

 " what a pretty piece of business it would be to leave 

 this in the ground !" And in fact these women were 

 all employed to look for weeds under ground, not sent 

 out, as among us, to relieve a half strangled crop from 

 an overl)urthening tribe of weeds ; for the Scotch well 

 know by experience, "that a stitch in time saves 

 nine," and that, if weeds on their first appearance are 

 effectually taken out, weeders will subsequently have 

 little to do. 



The best soils for beans are clays and strong loams ; 

 turnip soils or sands are by no means proper for 

 them. 



No. XIV. 



The Rape's a useful plant of Cabbage tribe, 

 And too well known for ^Martin to describe ; 

 Seed, leaf, and stalk, have each of them tlieir use, 

 And almost every soil will Mape produce. 



Leaving the consideration of carrots and parsnips, 

 as a food for cattle, to a more advanced age of farm- 

 ing, I shall conclude my few hasty hints on green 

 crops, with some observations on the use of rape, 

 which I shall abridge from the more copious and sa- 

 tisfactory suggestions offered by the author of the 



