276 



On the Farming of Suffolk. 



horse may be made to walk in the furrow by quartering the shafts 

 of the cart. 



a h a h a h a Cabbages are not very 



generally grown, but Mr. 

 Downing's plan appears to 

 be advantageous^ as it se- 

 cures both a green crop 

 and the benefits of a long 

 fallow, a a a a, furrows 

 5i feet apart ; b b b, cab- 

 bages 21 inches apart in 



the row ; rows distant from 

 each other 5i feet, or 3 

 rows in a rod. 



By planting at the dis- 

 tance of 5 J feet, the injury 

 done by carting on the ma- 

 nure and carting off the 

 cabbages is entirely pre- 

 vented, as the wheels of the carts always run in the furrows. 

 It takes 4826 cabbages to plant an acre (these, pricked out to 4 

 inches apart, are bought at Is. 6d. per 1000) ; the planting is 

 done from 4 in the afternoon to 7 or 8 in the evening ; the 

 plants thus have the advantage of the coolness and damp of night, 

 and by that means gain strength to stand the heat of the following 

 day, but during dull weather the planting may go on at any time. 



The cultivation between the rows is done by the common plough ; 

 the land is first ploughed away from one side of the rows of cab- 

 bages, cutting as close to the plants as possible, the soil is then 

 turned back, each other space is left unploughed for 4 or 5 days, 

 for this reason, that the ploughing is done so close to the plants 

 that it breaks off a great number of roots, and if the roots on both 

 sides were cut by the plough on the same day the cabbages would 

 suffer, whilst, by ploughing on the other side 4 or 5 days after- 

 wards, the roots that have been previously cut off short have time 

 to send out an increased number of young fibres, which support 

 the plant while the other side is undergoing the operation of 

 ploughing. The benefit to be derived from the cutting off the 

 roots is, the increased number of spongioles, or young feeders 

 sent out by the broken roots; the plants, being furnished with a 

 greater number of mouths, must, as a matter of course, take in 

 an increased amount of food, which acts upon the plant by pro- 

 ducing a quicker growth. The gentleman who practises this 

 system of cultivating cabbages was told that it would not answer 

 during dry weather, but he asserted that if the plan suited a wet 

 season, he was sure it would succeed in a dry one ; the ploughing 



