CULTIVATION. 137 



ing their various individual peculiarities as well as many 

 subsidiary circumstances, influenced by the operation, and 

 necessary to be borne in mind — would be a great mistake. 

 In considering the matter two principal points arise : — 



1. The manner in which the stock should be cut. 



2. The time for performing the operation, 



1. Method of Cutting. '' 



Before the stock can be cut it must first be laid bare 

 and accessible by the removal of the surrounding soil. 

 This operation is termed " opening," and consists in turning 

 down with the plough the earth on each side of the stocks — 

 whether the land is in ridges or hills — ^and then removing 

 with the hand hoe the remaining strip — about 16 inches 

 wide — left in the centre, one half being drawn away on each 

 side, so as to leave along the line of the sets a shallow trench 

 in which the young shoots are already appearing above the 

 surface. In small or steep gardens, where the plough cannot 

 very well be used, the entire work is done by hand with the 

 mattock ; in other cases, however, ploughing is the rule. In 

 ploughing down great care is necessary to keep the share 

 from coming too close to the stocks and wounding them or 

 the shoots, especially when it is intended to use the cut sets 

 for planting or for sale ; and in such case it is much better 

 to leave round each stock a small mound of earth untouched 

 by the hoe, and to only clear this away afterwards. 



Both this task and the actual work of cutting the stocks 

 must be performed in fine weather, not during rain or while 

 the ground is wet — the necessity for this precaution being 

 self-evident. With settled weather it is preferable to leave 

 the opened rows exposed for at least half a day before 

 proceeding to cut them, this, d«lay facilitating the aeration of 

 the ground, which is thereby rendered more friable and more 

 easily cleared away from round the stocks. 



