termination of all the spreading fibres of its roots, may be supplied with nourishment." And surely there is no way of spreading dung so equally as along only three drills at a time, and by spreaders keeping to their own drills. "It must yield azote during the whole period of the growth of the plants; in fact, rather more is required during the later periods than prior to the development of the tubers; for, from M. Boussingault's analysis, it appears that they contain 8 per cent more of this substance than the leaves. In an economical point of view, therefore, the best manure for potatoes would be one which contained plenty of azote, but still did not decompose very rapidly,-cow-dung, for example."

*

2807. What inorganic substances ought a potato manure to contain, and in what proportions is a question which "it will not be very difficult to answer," observes Dr Fromberg; " for, knowing the average composition of the ash of sound potatoes, (1257,) and proceeding upon the principle that, in manuring a crop, we do nothing more than mix up with the different proportions of those substances of which the crop itself consists, we need only to recalculate the table presenting this composition in a hundred parts. In how far the excess of one ingredient will do harm, when all the others are present in sufficient quantity, it is almost impossible to say, although it cannot certainly be great; but when there is a deficiency of any ingredient-potash for instance, and an excess of another, such as lime-then it is likely that the plant will assimilate the latter instead of the former, or rather, the acids that are in the plant requiring to be neutralised, will combine with lime in such proportion as there is a want of potash. It may be that the quantities of those inorganic ingredients appear trifling, considering that of them altogether there is only about one per cent present in potatoes, and therefore of little consequence; yet there are reasons to think that these small quantities, and their exact proportions, within certain limits, are of essential importance for the proper performance of the functions of the several organs of the plants. The substances that ought to be in a potato manure are the following, arranged according to their several proportions in

tons:

early as possible in autumn, I break up the soil to the depth of two inches lower than before, and then pass the harrow over it. In winter the dung is carted and uniformly spread. At the beginning of spring, this dung is buried by a light ploughing; and the harrow passed over before the seed-time ploughing. I like to have a portion of the manure brought up to the surface by this operation, because a greater quantity is then collected around the roots of the potatoes.

The potatoes are set in furrows as follows:-by means of the marking plough, lines or small furrows are traced at right angles or obliquely to the direction which the plough is to take. Four persons are then stationed at equal distances on the line of the plough, each having assigned to him the space which he is to plant. One plough traces the first furrow, which is immediately set with potatoes. Two other ploughs then follow, and the potatoes are set in the furrow traced by the third. It will be understood that the persons who set them have to go from one side to the other, each one keeping within his allotted space. Each potato is set at the point of intersection of the line traced by the marker, with the furrow formed by the plough. It is of importance that the potatoes be set as close as possible to the perpendicular side of the furrow, and not on that where the slice has been turned over; for, in the former position, the potato is most likely to remain in its place, and not to be disturbed by the horses' feet. The best ploughmen must be employed to trace the furrow in which the potatoes are set : first, to insure that the furrow may be of a proper and uniform depth, three inches in a heavy, and four or five in a sandy soil; secondly, to enable him to correct any errors which the others may have made in the width of their furrows. The first ploughman always traces the first furrow in commencing a new bed. The width of the beds must be measured at the two extremities, and poles set up there, in order to preserve as much as possible the parallelism of the beds. If the labourers are well practised, three ploughs and five planters will finish eight acres per day, or six at the least. Each planter must have his sack of potatoes within his reach. A week after the setting the ground is harrowed, an operation by which a few weeds are destroyed. Great numbers of them afterwards spring up. Nothing more is, however, done to get rid of them till the potatoes are about to spring up, and some of them just beginning to show their leaves above ground,"

2809. Rooks are very destructive to the potatocrop just as the germs of the plants are penetrating the ground, and they seem to possess an exquisite sense of smelling to find out those sets which are most palatable to their taste. They steal very quietly into potato-fields, and are there pretty well hidden amongst the drills; and in this respect their tactics differ from what they pursue when in search of grubs in lea, when it is being ploughed, which they do openly; or even

2817. The common No. 5 garden spade, fig. 237, with a sharp edge and its corFig. 237. ners a little worn by work, removes the rough herbage of the surface very well, and the soil can be set up at the same time by the workmen to be dried; but the labour of paring and burning in this manner would be expensive, and is therefore seldom incurred, though the spade might be usefully employed in some cases in assisting the other means, and its work would then be economical.

THE FLAUCHTER-SPADE AT WORK.

inches with a cutting edge in front; the hélve is 5 feet long and flat, provided with a flat cross-handle 2 feet long, with its plane at right angle to that of the helve. The blade of the spade is set at such an angle with the handle, as to permit the latter to be elevated to the height of a man's haunches, when the blade rests on its sole, when at work, flat upon the ground.

2819. The mode of using this instrument is this: As its use is attended with considerable labour, the workman is provided with a sort of leather apron containing two pieces of board fastened into it, which are placed in front of the groin, and the apron

is buckled round the waist and the upper part of the thighs. The blade of the instrument is laid flat on its sole, and its point is made to enter the ground by a push of the body upon the handle placed against the boards in front of the groins, and there held by both the hands. The body gives successive pushes, longer or shorter, as the nature of the ground admits; and the point is made to dip deeper, keep level, or move upwards, by the direction of the hands, according to the thickness of the surface to be removed. At each push the point cuts in front, while the cutting edge severs the removing turf from the solid surface, and after a turf has been cut of a foot or two in length, according to the nature of the surface, but never exceeding three feet in any case, it is turned upon its back or side as the case may happen, by a sudden jerk of the handle, given by both hands, upon the pared surface on the left hand of the worker. The edge of the spade is kept sharp with a scythe-stone.

2820. This instrument is called in Scotland the flauchter-spade, from the Teutonic verb to flauch or take off the skin; and the mode of using it will at once show the impropriety of the English term of the breast-plough, the breast of the worker never touching it.

2821. The thickness of the turf removed with this spade depends much on the strength and skill of the workman, but it seldom exceeds 2 inches, even in the softest parts of the ground, and more often 1 inch on ordinary surfaces.

2822. It will take a man a week to turn over one acre of ground, and he will require 2s. 6d. or 3s. a-day for such hard work, or 15s. to 18s. an acre.

2823. A more expeditious mode still of removing the surface is with the horse and plough. The share of the common plough cuts a furrow-slice at most 10 inches broad, and its depth is 4 or 5 inches in lea. As the turf in paring requires to be no thicker than will remove the herbage, it need never exceed 3 inches in thickness, and the plough will scarcely be held steady at less depth; and as that depth would be easy work for the horses, a greater breadth

of slice may be turned over than the share of the ordinary form can do. The only mode of causing the share to do more work is by extending the feather outwards to 12 or 15 inches, as desired for the breadth of the turf. Fig. 239 represents the share of the common plough, Fig. 239. where at a the breadth of the common feather is 10 inches, but on welding a wing 3 inches in breadth, and having a sharp edge upon the outer point a of the feather, the paring face may be increased to 15 inches in breadth, from c to the land side of the share. When the paring has been accomplished the wing c can be cut off, and the share is again fit for ordinary use.

THE PARING SOCK.

2824. The mould board will not lay over so broad a furrow-slice in the same regular manner as it does an ordinary one in lea; the slice will be partly rolled over upon itself, which will be in its favour for drying. The most land that a plough is expected to turn over in ordinary circumstances is an acre, but in work of this nature, when many interruptions may occur from thaws and frosts, and irregularities of the ground, perhaps half that extent is as much as may be turned over even with the facility afforded by the broader share for going over a greater extent of ground. Even at half an acre a-day for each plough, its use is less than half as costly as the flauchter-spade.

2825. When the ground is even, this share may be able to turn over the entire surface, but when uneven and much broken, and where stones abound, it cannot be used, and the flauchter-spade should be employed on such places; while the common spade may be used in small deep hollows, or among thick masses of herbage. Thus all these implements may co-operatively complete what one alone could not accomplish so well.

2826. When the turf is laid over by the spade, the workmen might slip them off and set them up one against the other, though not so effectually as by the hand. The flauchter-spade taking up a long thin turf, cannot get quit of it without either laying it flat or setting it partly on edge. The broad continued turf laid over by the share of the plough must fall flat upon the ground, and be set up by the hand to be dried.

wheel c moves upon the pared surface. By the adjustment of these two large wheels, the thickness of the turf to be pared is determined. The coulter d cuts

the turf, and the mould-board e sets it upon its edge, curled up to be dried. It cuts the turf 14 inches in breadth, and from 1 to 2 inches in thickness. On good lea a man and a boy, and a pair of horses, will pare, it is said, 24 acres a-day. The cost of the implement at the work is £5, 108

2829. Paring may be executed any time during the winter and spring, but perhaps it is best and most easily done from February to April. It is difficult to do when the ground becomes dry and hard, while in boggy land it is best executed in dry weather. While the land is very wet, it cannot be done in boggy ground, as the footing would be insecure, and the soil is then soaked in water; nor in clay land, as the upper surface would soon become poached.

2830. The sods are set up on edge or against one another in the best way, to expose the largest surface to the air, to be dried in the quickest time for the next process they have to undergo, which is the burning. The long continuous turfs turned over by the ploughs, before being dried, will require to be cut in convenient lengths with the spade. In dry weather they may be ready to be burned in about a fortnight.

2831. In burning, the fires must first be begun with some combustible materials, as wood, chips, shavings; and at first they must be well attended to, in order to have the first turfs well dried, and after these have begun to burn, to surround them with fresh sods, so as to keep the fire in a smouldering state, and never to get into flame or to burn fiercely. A number of fires should be lighted one after the other, and then the field-workers could be employed in carrying the turf a short distance, and supplying the fires with fresh sods, placing them thickest on the side the wind blows against, to keep down the force of the fire. This being the object, it is evident that the turfs should not be too dry before the burning begins. The heaps should be supplied with turfs until they attain a large size, capable of containing from 10 to 15 cart-loads of ashes, and the larger the heap is the less will the air affect its interior to consume the ashes.

The dried and burning turfs of one heap will supply fire to begin the burning of other heaps. In case of the fire bursting into combustion through the night by reason of the wind, the heaps should be well covered with fresh sods in the evening, part of which may be removed in the morning. If the fire is dull, a hole opened in the windy side, or even a few holes punched into the heap with a stake, will set itagoing. In a large heap there is no fear of the fire going out, or that it is out, although the heap show but little symptoms of activity on the outside. A heavy rain will not put out the fire of a large heap. When a heap has attained a sufficient size, and it is inconvenient to carry the sods to it beyond a reasonable distance, it should get leave to smoulder and cool, and the unburnt sods on the outside should be carried to the heap nearest at hand.

2832. To obtain good results, the burning of the heaps should not be conducted in a thoughtless manner; but ought to be done according to a plan previously fixed upon. A good plan is to begin to burn one row of heaps after another, and to begin the first row at that side of the field on which it will be most convenient to plough the ground; and having gathered the turfs on both sides of the line of each heap as will serve their purpose, a considerable space of ground will thereby be cleared of turf; and as one line of heaps is constructed, let another be begun from the end the former one was finished at, and thus proceed until the field has all been heaped. In proceeding thus, the charred turfs of the previously formed heaps will be easily carried across the ground to those about to be formed. The time taken until the burnt heaps will be cold, will depend on the state of the weather, but it will take a considerable time if they are allowed to cool of themselves. The ashes may be spread abroad to cool, if they are required soon; but should wind arise after the heaps have been broken, the ashes will be scattered about in all directions, and those from the outside of the heaps may be blown off the ground altogether. Caution is thus requisite in conducting this operation.

2833. When a thick turf has been laid over by the plough, it will afford more