CROPS. 
88 
I was informed some good pea-crops had been har¬ 
vested at Fladbury the last week in July, 1807. 
Pease are grown either upon one ploughing of turf, 
or upon a barley stubble, ploughed up after fallow bar¬ 
ley, and are generally succeeded by wheat; they are 
sown broadcast, or drilled, and seldom set by hand; 
produce precarious; a good crop 30 to 40 bushels per 
acre, a great yielding crop sometimes more, and often¬ 
times less, down to 20 bushels per acre, or to scarce 
the seed again. This crop should certainly never be 
sown but in rows, on clean land, and kept perfectly 
clean from weeds by hoeing. 
, Beans are grown considerably upon the strong lands 
of Worcestershire, and none but the greatest slovens now 
think of sowing them broadcast; they are very generally 
either set by hand, or drilled by a machine; in the 
former case women and children are principally em¬ 
ployed, who set from 3 to 4 bushels per acre, at from 
Is. 6d. to 2s. per bushel (of 9 gallons) with the allow¬ 
ance of a quart of cyder per day each; the average 
expense of thus setting may be reckoned at about 8s. 
per acre ; the time of setting is February and March. 
Mr. Darke observed, “ we excel in nothing so much as 
setting beans, it is superior to drilling in its most per¬ 
fect state ; they are all set by line, and we prefer set¬ 
ting them north and south, to have the benefit of the 
Sun betwixt the rows ; they are hoed three times with 
the gardener’s coming-hoe ; the large tick bean is 
used, and they produce sufficient to satisfy the culti¬ 
vator.” 
* 
The machines for drilling beans, lay in two rows 
only, and are drawn by one horse, at about 18 inches 
distant, with a holder and driver; 2 acres per day may 
be 
