not so good; for it breeds
the fly more; or, at least, I think so. The seed should be sown in drills
_an inch deep_, made as pointed out under the head of _Sowing_ in my book
on _Gardening_. When deposited in the drills _evenly_ but _not thickly_,
the ground should be raked across the drills, so as to fill them up; and
then the whole of the ground should be _trodden hard_, with shoes not
nailed, and not very thick in the sole. The ground should be laid out in
four-feet _beds_ for the reasons mentioned in the "_Gardener_." When the
seeds come up, thin the plants to two inches apart as soon as you think
them clear from the fly; for, if left thicker, they injure each other even
in this infant state. Hoe frequently between the rows even before thinning
the plants; and when they are thinned, hoe well and frequently between
them; for this has a tendency to make them strong; and the hoeing _before
thinning_ helps to keep off the fly. A rod of ground, the rows being eight
inches apart, and plants two inches apart in the row, will contain about
_two thousand two hundred_ plants. An acre in rows four feet apart and the
plants a foot apart in the row, will take about ten thousand four hundred
and sixty plants. So that to transplant an acre, you must sow about _five
rods of ground_. The plants should be kept very clean; and, by the last
week in June, or first in July, you put them out. I have put them out (in
England) at all times between 7th of June and middle of August. The first
is certainly earlier than I like; and the very finest I ever grew in
England, and the finest I ever saw for a large piece, were transplanted on
the 14th of July. But one year with another, the last week in June is the
best time. For size of plants, manner of transplanting, intercultivation,
preparing the land, and the rest, see "_Year's Residence in America_."

No. VIII.

_On the converting of English Grass, and Grain Plants cut green, into
Straw, for the purpose of making Plat for Hats and Bonnets._

KENSINGTON, MAY 30, 1823.

208. The foregoing Numbers have treated, chiefly, of the management of the
affairs of a labourer's family, and more particularly of the mode of
disposing of the money earned by the labour of the family. The present
Number will point out what I hope may become _an advantageous kind of
labour_. All along I have proceeded upon the supposition, that the wife
and children of the labourer be, as constantly as possible, employe