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the leaves, in order to ftrip them off, clofe to 

 their infertion into the Item. Thofe leaves only 

 fhould be gathered which bend towards the 

 earth, and care mould always be taken to 

 leave thofe of the heart of the plant : they will 

 thereby be re-produced, and grow more 

 quickly. Immediately after this firft crop, 

 the ground fhould be turned up once or twice 

 with the mattock of the roots. In digging 

 the earth this fecond time, the root fhould 

 be raifed high with a wooden fpade, and the 

 furface of the earth mould be turned up 

 afrefh, fo that every root Ihould be cleared 

 for an inch and a half, or two inches : they 

 will then appear as if they were planted in a 

 fmall bafon, of nine or ten inches in diame- 

 ter. Even a child might eafily perform this 

 operation. In light lands, it will be fuf- 

 ficient to clear away the weeds, and to dig 

 up the earth with the fpade. After this fe- 

 cond operation, which is a very eflential one, 

 nothing more is neceffary but to gather in 

 the crop. It is from this moment that the 

 roots begin to grow large, and to increafe in 

 an aftonifhing manners and it is not advan- 

 tageous to them to have other encroaching 



vegetables 



