Part 6
[41] As when Wheat is drill’d late in very poor Land, so that in the Spring the young Plants look all very yellow; let your Hoe-plough, making a crooked Line, like an Indenture, on one Side of a strait Row of this poor Wheat in the Spring, turn a Furrow from it; and in a short time you will see all those yellow Plants, that are contiguous to this Furrow, change their yellow Colour to a deep Green; whilst those Plants of the same Row, which stand farthest off from this indented Furrow, change not their Colour till afterwards; and all the Plants change or retain their Colour sooner or later gradually, as they stand nearer to, or farther from it; and the other Rows, which have no Furrow near them, continue their yellow, after all this Row is become green and flourishing: But this Experiment is best to be made in poor sandy Ground, when the Mould is friable; else perhaps the different Colour may not appear until the Furrow be turn’d back to the Row, having lain some time to be somewhat pulveriz’d (or impregnated) by the Weather, _&c._
This Experiment I often made on Wheat drill’d on the Level before I drill’d any on Ridges.
The plowing one Furrow in sandy or mellow Ground makes a Pulveration, which is enjoy’d first by these Plants that are the nearest to it; and also delivers them from the Weeds, which, though there may be very few, yet there is a vast difference between their robbing the Wheat of its Pasture in the Row, and the Wheat’s enjoying both that and the whole Pasture of the Furrow also.
I never remember to have seen a Plant poor, that was contiguous to a well-hoed Interval, unless overpower’d by a too great Multitude of other Plants; and the same Exception must be made, if it were a Plant that required more or less Heat or Moisture, than the Soil or Climate afforded.
And I have been informed by some Persons, that they have often made the like Observations; that, in the driest of Weather, good Hoeing[42] procures Moisture to Roots; tho’ the Ignorant and Incurious fansy, it lets in the Drought; and therefore are afraid to hoe their Plants at such Times, when, unless they water them, they are spoil’d for Want of it.
[42] When Land is become hard by lying too long unho’d, the Plough in turning a deep Furrow from each Side of a single Row of young Plants (suppose of Turneps) may crack the Earth quite through the Row, and expose the Roots to the open Air and Sun in very dry Weather; but if the Earth wherein the Plants stand be fine, there will be no Cracks in it: ’Tis therefore the delaying the Hoeing too long that occasions the Injury. But to hoe with Advantage against dry Weather, the Ground must have been well tilled or hoed before, that the Hoe may go deep, else the Dews, that fall in the Night, will be exhal’d back in the Heat of the Day.
There is yet one more Benefit Hoeing gives to Plants, which by no Art can possibly be given to Animals: For all that can be done in feeding an Animal is, what has been here already said of Hoeing; that is, to give it sufficient Food, Meat and Drink, at the times it has occasion for them; if you give an Animal any more, ’tis to no manner of Purpose, unless you could give it more Mouths, which is impossible; but in hoeing a Plant the additional Nourishment thereby given, enables it to send out innumerable additional Fibres and Roots, as in one of the Glasses with a Mint in it, is seen; which fully demonstrates, that a Plant increaseth its Mouths, in some Proportion to the Increase of Food given to it: So that Hoeing, by the new Pasture it raises, furnishes both Food and Mouths to Plants; and ’tis for Want of Hoeing, that so few are brought to their Growth and Perfection[43].
[43] A Ground was drill’d with Ray-grass and Barley, in Rows at Five Inches Distance from each other; it produced a pretty good Crop of Ray-grass the second Year as is usual; there was adjoining to it a Ground of Turneps, that were in Rows, with wide Intervals Horse-ho’d; they stood for Seed; and amongst them there was, in Room of a Turnep, a single Plant of Ray-grass, which, being hoed as the Turneps were, had (in every one’s Opinion that saw it) acquired a Bulk at least equal to a Thousand Plants of the same Species in the other Ground; tho’ that vast Plant had no other Advantage above the other, except its Singleness, and the deep Hoeing.
I have seen a Chickweed, by the same means, as much increas’d beyond its common Size; and a Plant of Mustard-seed, whose collateral Branches were much bigger than ever I saw a whole Plant of that Sort; it was higher than I could reach its Top, and indeed more like a Tree than an Herb; many other sorts of Plants have I seen thus increased beyond what I had ever observ’d before, but none so much as those.
In what Manner the Sarrition of the Antients was performed in their Corn, is not very clear: This seems to have been their Method; _viz._ When the Plants were some time come up, they harrowed the Ground, and pull’d out the Weeds by Hand. The Process of this appears in _Columella_, where he directs the Planting of _Medica_ to be but a Sort of Harrowing or Raking amongst the young Plants, that the Weeds might come out the more easily: _Ligneis Rastris statim jacta Semina obruantur_. _Post Sationem Ligneis Rastris Jarriendus, & identidem runcandus est Ager, ne alterius generis Herba invalidam Medicam perimat._
They harrowed and hoed _Rastris_; so that their _Occatio_ and _Sarritio_ were performed with much the same Sort of Instrument, and differed chiefly in the Time: The first was at Seed-time, to cover the Seed, or level the Ground; the other was to move the Ground after the Plants were up.
One Sort of their Sarrition was, _Segetes permota Terra debere adobrui, ut fruticare possint_. Another Sort was thus: _In Locis autem frigidis sarriri nec adobrui, sed Plana Sarritione Terram permoveri_.
For the better Understanding of these two Sorts of Sarrition, we must consider, that the Antients sowed their Corn under Furrow; that is, when they had harrowed the Ground, to break the Clods, and make it level, they sowed the Seed, and then plowed it in: This left the Ground very uneven, and the Corn came up (as we see it does here in the same Case) mostly in the lowest Places betwixt the Furrows, which always lay higher: This appears by _Virgil_’s _Cum Sulcos æquant Sata_. Now, when they used _Plana Sarritio_, they harrowed Length-ways of the Furrows, which being somewhat harden’d, there could be little Earth thrown down thence upon the young Corn.
But the other Sort of Sarrition, whereby the Corn is said _Adobrui_, to be cover’d, seems to be perform’d by Harrowing cross the Furrows; which must needs throw down much Earth from the Furrows, which necessarily fell upon the Corn.
How this did contribute to make the Corn _fruticare_, is another Question: I am in no doubt to say, it was not from covering any Part of it (for I see that has a contrary Effect), but from moving much Ground, which gave a new Pasture to the Roots: This appears by the Observation of the extraordinary Frutication of Wheat ho’d without being cover’d; and by the Injury it receives by not being uncover’d when any Earth falls on the Rows.
The same Author saith, _Faba, & cætera Legumina, cum quatuor Digitis à Terra extiterint, recte farrientur, excepto tamen Lupino, cujus Semini contraria est Sarritio; quoniam unam Radicem habet, quæ sive Ferro succisa feu vulnerata est, totus Frutex emoritur_.
If they had ho’d it only betwixt Rows, there had been no Danger of killing the Lupine, which is a Plant most proper for Hoeing. What he says of the Lupine’s having no need of Sarrition, because it is able of itself to kill Weeds, shews the Antients were ignorant of the chief Use of Hoeing; _viz._ to raise new Nourishment by dividing the Earth, and making a new Internal Superficies in it.
Sarrition scratched and broke so small a Part of the Earth’s Surface, amongst the Corn and Weeds, without Distinction, or favouring one any more than the other, that it was a Dispute, whether the Good it did in facilitating the Runcation (or Hand-weeding) was greater, than the Injury it did by bruising and tearing the Corn: And many of the Antients chose rather to content themselves with the Use of Runcation only, and totally to omit all Sarrition of their Corn.
But Hoeing is an Action very different from that of Sarrition, and is every Way beneficial, no-way injurious to Corn, tho’ destructive to Weeds. Therefore some modern Authors shew a profound Ignorance, in translating _Sarritio_, Hoeing: They give an Idea very different from the true one: For the Antients truly hoed their Vineyards, but not their Corn; neither did they plant their Corn in Rows, without which they could not give it the Vineyard-hoeing; Their Sarculation was used but amongst small Quantities of sown Corn, and is yet in Use for Flax; for I have seen the _Sarculum_ (which is a Sort of a very narrow Hoe) used amongst the Plants of Flax standing irregularly: But this Operation is too tedious and too chargeable, to be apply’d to great Quantities of irregular Corn.
If they ho’d their Crops sown at Random, one would think they should have made mad Work of it; since they were not at the Pains to plant in Rows, and hoe betwixt them with their Bidens; being the Instrument with which they tilled many of their Vineyards, and enters as deep as the Plough, and is much better than the _English_ Hoe, which indeed seems, at the first Invention of it, to be designed rather to scrape Chimneys, than to till the Ground.
The highest and lowest Vineyards are ho’d by the Plough; first the high Vineyards, where the Vines grow (almost like Ivy) upon great Trees, such as Elms, Maples, Cherry-trees, _&c._ These are constantly kept in Tillage, and produce good Crops of Corn, besides what the Trees do yield; and also these great and constant Products of the Vines are owing to this Sort of Hoe-tillage; because neither in Meadow or Pasture Grounds can Vines be made to prosper; tho’ the Land be much richer, and yet have a less Quantity of Grass taken off it, than the Arable has Corn carried from that.
The Vines of low Vineyards[44], ho’d by the Plough, have their Heads just above the Ground, standing all in a most regular Order, and are constantly plowed in the proper Season: These have no other Assistance, but by Hoeing; because their Head and Roots are so near together, that Dung would spoil the Taste of the Wine they produce, in hot Countries.
[44] From these I took my Vineyard Scheme, observing that indifferent Land produces an annual Crop of Grapes and Wood without Dung; and though there is annually carried off from an Acre of Vineyard, as much in Substance as is carried off in the Crop of an Acre of Corn produced on Land of equal Goodness; and yet the Vineyard Soil is never impoverished, unless the hoeing Culture be denied it: But a few annual Crops of Wheat, without Dung in the common Management, will impoverish and emaciate the Soil.
The Vine indeed has the Advantage of being a large perennial Plant, and of receiving some Part of its Nourishment below the Staple; but it has also Disadvantages: The Soil of the Vineyard never can have a true Summer Fallow, tho’ it has much Summer Hoeing; for the Vines live in it, and all over it all the Year: neither can that Soil have Benefit from Dung, because though by increasing the Pulveration, it increases the Crop, yet it spoils the Taste of the Wine; the Exhaustion of that Soil is therefore supply’d by no artificial Help but Hoeing: And by all the Experience I have had of it, the same Cause will have the same Effect upon a Soil for the Production of Corn, and other Vegetables, as well as upon the Vineyard.
All Vineyards must be ho’d one Way or other[45], or else they will produce nothing of Value; but Corn-Fields without Hoeing do produce something, tho’ nothing in Comparison to what they would do with it.
[45] Vines, that cannot be ho’d by the Ploughs, are ho’d by the Bidens.
Mr. _Evelyn_ says, that when the Soil, wherein Fruit-Trees are planted, is constantly kept in Tillage, they grow up to be an Orchard in half the Time they would do, if the Soil were not till’d; and this keeping an Orchard-Soil in Arable, is Horse-hoeing it.
In some Places in _Berkshire_ they have used, for a long time to Hand-hoe most Sorts of Corn, with very great Success; and I may say this, that I myself never knew, or heard, that ever any Crop of Corn was properly so ho’d, but what very well answer’d the Expence, even of this Hand-work; but be this never so profitable, there are not a Number of Hands to use it in great Quantities; which possibly was one Reason the Antients were not able to introduce it into their Corn-Fields to any Purpose; tho’ they should not have been ignorant of the Effect of it, from what they saw it do in their Vineyards and Gardens.
In the next Place I shall give some general Directions, which by Experience I have found necessary to be known, in order to the Practice of this Hoeing-Husbandry.
I. _Concerning the Depth to plant at._
II. _The Quantity of Seed to plant._
III. _And the Distance of the Rows._
I. ’Tis necessary to know how deep we may plant our Seed, without Danger of burying it; for so ’tis said to be, when laid at a Depth below what ’tis able to come up at.
Different Sorts of Seeds come up at different Depths; some at six Inches, or more; some at not more than half an Inch: The Way to know for certain the Depth any Sort will come up at is, to make Gauges in this Manner: Saw off 12 Sticks of about 3 Inches Diameter: Bore a Hole in the End of each Stick, and drive into it a taper Peg; let the first Peg be half an Inch long, the next an Inch, and so on; every Peg to be half an Inch longer than the former, till the last Peg be six Inches long; then in that sort of Ground where you intend to plant, make a Row of Twenty Holes with the half-Inch Gauge; put therein Twenty good Seeds; cover them up, and stick the Gauge at the End of that Row; then do the like with all the other Eleven Gauges: This will determine the Depth, at which the most Seeds will come up[46].
[46] In the common way of Sowing tis hard to know the proper Depth, because some Seeds lying deep, and others shallow, it is not easy to discover the Depth of those that are buried: But I have found in drilling of black Oats, that when the Drill-Plough was set a little deeper for Trial, very few came up: Therefore ’tis proper for the Driller to use the Gauges for all Sorts of Seeds; for, if he drills them too deep, he may lose his Crop; or, if too shallow, in dry Weather, he may injure it, especially in Summer Seeds; but for those planted against Winter, there is the most Damage by planting too deep.
When the Depth is known, wherein the Seed is sure to come up, we may easily discover, whether the Seed be good or not, by observing how many will fail: For in some Sorts of Seeds the Goodness cannot be known by the Eye; and there has been often great Loss by bad Seed, as well as by burying good Seed; both which Misfortunes might be prevented by this little Trouble; besides ’tis not convenient to plant some sorts of Seed at the utmost Depth they will come up at; for it may be so deep, as that the Wet may rot or chill the first Root, as in Wheat in moist Land.
The Nature of the Land, the Manner how it is laid, either flat, or in Ridges, and the Season of Planting, with the Experience of the Planter, acquired by such Trials, must determine the proper Depths for different Sorts of Seeds.
II. The proper Quantity of Seed to be drill’d on an Acre, is much less than must be sown in the common Way; not because Hoeing will not maintain as many Plants as the other; for, on the contrary, Experience shews it will, _cæteris paribus_, maintain more; but the Difference is upon many other Accounts: As that ’tis impossible to sow it so even by Hand, as the Drill will do; for let the Hand spread it never so exactly (which is difficult to do some Seeds, especially in windy Weather), yet the Unevenness of the Ground will alter the Situation of the Seed; the greatest Part rebounding into the Holes, and lowest Places; or else the Harrows, in Covering, draw it down thither; and tho’ these low Places may have Ten Times too much, the high Places may have little or none of it: This Inequality lessens, in Effect, the Quantity of the Seed; because Fifty Seeds, in Room of One, will not produce so much as One will do; and where they are too thick, they cannot be well nourished, their Roots not spreading to near their natural Extent, for Want of Hoeing to open the Earth. Some Seed is buried (by which is meant the laying them so deep, that they are never able to come up, as _Columella_ cautions, _Ut absque ulla Resurrectionis Spe sepeliantur_): Some lies naked above the Ground; which, with more uncovered by the first Rain, feeds the Birds and Vermin.
Farmers know not the Depth that is enough to bury their Seed, neither do they make much Difference in the Quantity they sow on a rough, or a fine Acre; tho’ the same that is too little for the one, is too much for the other; ’tis all mere Chance-work, and they put their whole Trust in good Ground, and much Dung, to cover their Errors.
The greatest Quantity of Seed I ever heard of to be usually sown, is in _Wiltshire_, where I am informed by the Owners themselves, that on some Sorts of Land they sow Eight Bushels of Barley to an Acre; so that if it produce four Quarters to an Acre, there are but four Grains for one that is sown, and is a very poor Increase, tho’ a good Crop; this is on Land plowed once, and then double-dung’d, the Seed only harrow’d into the stale and hard Ground[47]; ’tis like not two Bushels of the eight will enter it to grow; and I have heard, that in a dry Summer an Acre of this scarce produces four Bushels at Harvest.
[47] Stale Ground is that which has lain some considerable time after Plowing, before it is sown, contrary to that which is sown immediately after plow’d; for this last is generally not so hard as the former.
But, in Drilling, Seed lies all the same just Depth, none deeper, nor shallower, than the rest; here’s no Danger of the Accidents of burying, or being uncover’d, and therefore no Allowance must be made for them; but Allowance must be made for other Accidents, where the Sort of Seed is liable to them; such as Grub, Fly, Worm, Frost, _&c._
Next, when a Man unexperienced in this Method has proved the Goodness of his Seed, and Depth to plant at it, he ought to calculate what Number of Seeds a Bushel, or other Measure or Weight, contains: For one Bushel or one Pound of small Seed, may contain double the Number of Seeds, of a Bushel, or a Pound, of large Seed of the same Species.
This Calculation is made by weighing an Ounce, and counting the Number of Seeds therein; then weighing a Bushel of it, and multiplying the Number of Seeds of the Ounce, by the Number of Ounces of the Bushel’s Weight; the Product will shew the Number of Seeds of a Bushel near enough: Then, by the Rule of Three, apportion them to the Square Feet of an Acre; or else it may be done, by divideing the Seeds of the Bushel by the Square Feet of an Acre; the Quotient will give the Number of Seeds for every Foot: Also consider how near you intend to plant the Rows, and whether Single, Double, Treble, or Quadruple; for the more Rows, the more Seed will be required[48].
[48] The narrow Spaces (suppose seven Inches) betwixt Double, Treble, or Quadruple Rows, the Double having One, the Treble Two, and the Quadruple Three of them, are called _Partitions_.
The wide Space (suppose of near five Feet) betwixt any Two of these Double, Treble, or Quadruple Rows, is call’d an _Interval_.
Examine what is the Produce of one middle-siz’d Plant of the Annual, but the Produce of the best and largest of the perennial Sort; because that by Hoeing will be brought to its utmost Perfection: Proportion the Seed of both to the reasonable Product; and, when ’tis worth while, adjust the Plants to their competent Number with the Hand-hoe, after they are up; and plant Perennials generally in single Rows: Lastly, Plant some Rows of the Annual thicker than others, which will soon give you Experience (better than any other Rule) to know the exact Quantity of Seed to drill.
III. The Distances of the Rows are one of the most material Points, wherein we shall find many apparent Objections against the Truth; of which, tho’ full Experience be the most infallible Proof, yet the World is by false Notions so prejudiced against wide Spaces between Rows, that unless these common (and I wish I could say, only vulgar) Objections be first answer’d, perhaps no-body will venture so far out of the old Road, as is necessary to gain the Experience; without it be such as have seen it.
I formerly was at much Pains, and at some Charge, in improving my Drills, for planting the Rows at very near Distances; and had brought them to such Perfection, that One Horse would draw a Drill with Eleven Shares, making the Rows at three Inches and half Distance from one another; and at the same Time sow in them Three very different Sorts of Seeds, which did not mix; and these too, at different Depths; as the Barley-Rows were seven Inches asunder, the Barley lay four Inches deep; a little more than three Inches above that, in the same Chanels, was Clover; betwixt every Two of these Rows was a Row of St. Foin, cover’d half an Inch deep.
I had a good Crop of Barley the first Year; the next Year, Two Crops of Broad-Clover, where that was sown; and where Hop-Clover was sown, a mix’d Crop of That and St. Foin, and every Year afterwards a Crop of St. Foin; but I am since, by Experience, so fully convinced of the Folly of these, or any other such mix’d Crops, and more especially of narrow Spaces, that I have demolish’d these Instruments (in their full Perfection) as a vain Curiosity, the Drift and Use of them being contrary to the true Principles and Practice of Horse-Hoeing.
Altho’ I am satisfied, that every one, who shall have seen as much of it as I have, will be of my Mind in this Matter; yet I am aware, that what I am going to advance, will seem shocking to them, before they have made Trials.
I lay it down as a Rule (to myself) that every Row of Vegetables, to be Horse-ho’d, ought to have an empty Space or Interval of thirty Inches on one Side of it[49] at least, and of near five Feet in all Sorts of Corn.
[49] _Note_, We call it one Row, tho’ it be a Double, Treble, or Quadruple Row; because when they unite in the Spring, they seem to be all single; even the Quadruple then is but as one single Row.
Observe, that as wide Intervals are necessary for perfect Horse-hoeing, so the largest Vegetables have generally the greatest Benefit by them; tho’ small Plants may have considerable Benefit from much narrower Intervals than Five Feet.
The Intervals may be somewhat narrower for constant annual Crops of Barley, than of Wheat; because Barley does not shut out the Hoe-Plough so soon, nor require so much Room for Hoeing, nor so much Earth in the Intervals, it being a lesser Plant, and growing but about a Third-part of the Time on the Ground; but he that drills Barley, must resolve to reap it, and bind it up in Sheaves; for if he mows it, or does not bind it, a great Part will be lost among the Earth in the Intervals: But ’tis now found, that in a wet Harvest the best Way is not to bind up drill’d Barley or Oats; but instead thereof, to make up the Grips into little Heaps by Hands, laying the Ears upon one another inwards, and the Stubble-ones outwards; so that with a Fork that hath Two Fingers, and a Thumb, ’tis very easy to pitch such Heaps up the Waggons without scattering, or wasting any of the Corn.