IV.] 



CULTIVATION IN GENERAL. 



49 



was not half so good. Many of the ears had smut, which was not 

 the case with those that came from the ripened seed, though the 

 land and the cultivation were, in both cases, the same. 



SOWING. 



86. The first thing relating to sowing is the preparation of the 

 ground. It may be more or less fine, according to the sort of 

 seed to be sown. Peas and beans do not, of course, require the 

 earth so fine as small seeds do. But, still, the finer the better for 

 everything ; for it is best if the seed be actually pressed by the 

 earth in every part ; and many seeds, if not all, are best situated 

 when the earth is trodden down upon them. 



87. Of course the ground should be good, either in itself, or 

 made good by manure of some sort. But, in all cases, the ground 

 should he fresh; that is to say, it should be dug just before the 

 act of sowing, in order that the seeds may have the full benefit of 

 the fermentation, that takes place upon every moving of the earth. 



88. Never sow when the ground is wet ; nor, indeed, if it can be 

 avoided, perform any other act with or on the ground of a garden. 

 If you dig ground in wet weather, you make a sort of mortar of it ; 

 it binds when the sun or wind dries it. The fermentation does 

 not take place : and it becomes unfavourable to vegetation, espe- 

 cially if the ground be, in the smallest degree, stiff in its nature. 

 It is even desirable that wet should not come for some days after 

 ground has been moved • for if the wet come before the ground 

 be dry at top, the earth will run together, and will become bound 

 at top. Sow, therefore, if possible, in dry weather, but in freshly- 

 moved ground. 



89. The season for sowing will, of course, find a place under the 

 names of the respective plants ; and, I do hope that it is unne- 

 cessary for me to say that sowing according to the moon is wholly 

 absurd and ridiculous ; and that it arose solely out of the circum- 

 stance that our forefathers, who could not read, had neither 

 almanack nor calendar to guide them, and who counted by moons 

 and festivals, instead of by months and days of months. 



90. As to the act of sowing, the distances and depths differ 

 with different plants, and these will, of course, be pointed out 

 under the names of those different plants ; but, one thing is com- 

 mon to all seeds ; and that is that they should be sown mrows oi 



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