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APRIL:| FARMER’S CALENDAR. 49

smallest injury; on the contrary, by loosening the earth about the roots, and giving free accessto the influence of the air, the power of vegetation is renewed ina considerable degree; the same reasoning holds good with respect to manure, which, without this opening of the soil, in order to its admission, may lie a long time useless upon the surface of grass-land, exposed to the constant action of the sun and wind. I have my doubts of the utility of large and heavy rollers, in this case. Porators and Carrors, which are got in early, may be ready for the hoe by the latter end of this month. Respecting the former, the rule is, to commence the operation on the first ap-~ pearance of the weeds, loosening the whole sur- face thoroughly with the hoe, and plucking up by hand where necessary. With the latter, the first cleaning commences as soon as the plants can be fairly distinguished from weeds, and short, narrow, garden-hoes are recommended, the la- bourers kneeling to their work; but whilst the plants are very young, the use of any tool is so precarious, that I always prefer hand-weeding by women, who chuse the strongest plants, leave them at their proper distance asunder, and re- move all the weeds; and to render this operation more convenient, I have commonly had my Car- rots upon lands, or beds, of such width, that one weeder walking up the middle, and one in the fur- row on each side the bed, can just reach across. This will even be done full as quick as hoeing, it being so exceedingly difficult for the most careful person to extricate a plant entwined and sur- rounded by weeds. The expence of this early

E: cleaning