Saplings and gourds combine within a beis seah. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Even [if there are] ten gourds to a beis seah, one may plow the entire beis seah until Rosh Hashanah.

Until when are they considered saplings? R’ Elazar ben Azaryah says: Until they become unsanctified. R’ Yehoshua says: A seven-year-old. R’ Akiva says: A sapling as its name. A tree that was razed and produced a shoot — from a handbreadth and down [it is treated] as a sapling; from a handbreadth and up [it is treated] as a tree; [these are] the words of R’ Shimon.

Until when may one plow in a white field on the eve of the seventh [year]? Until the moisture ceases, as long as people plow to plant the melons and gourds. Said R’ Shimon: You have placed the law for each individual in his own hands! Rather, [one may plow] in a white field until Pesach and in a field of trees until Shavuos.

. [One may] fertilize and hoe among the melons and gourds until Rosh Hashanah; and so too in irrigated fields. [One may] excise blemishes, remove [leaves], apply dust, [and] fumigate [trees] until Rosh Hashanah. R’ Shimon says: He may even take the leaves from the cluster in the seventh [year].

One may clear stones [from a field] until Rosh Hashanah. One may prune [trees], thin [them], and cut away [their] decay until Rosh Hashanah. R’ Yehoshua says: Like the thinning and cutting away decay of the fifth, so is that of the sixth. R’ Shimon says: As long as I am permitted work of the tree, I am permitted to cut away its decay.

One may apply something rancid to the saplings, and one may wrap them, put ash on them, make shelters for them, and water them, until Rosh Hashanah. R’ Elazar bar Tzadok says: He may even water the branches during the seventh [year], but not the base.

One may smear [oil] on unripe figs and pierce them until Rosh Hashanah. Unripe figs [of] the eve of the seventh [year] which entered the seventh, and of the seventh [year] which remained to the [year] following the seventh, may not be smeared or pierced. R’ Yehudah says: [In] a place where they were accustomed to smearing [oil], they may not smear because it is work. [In] a place where they were accustomed not to smear, they may smear. R’ Shimon allows [work] for a tree, since he is permitted to work trees.

One may not plant, layer, or graft [on] the eve of the seventh [year] less than thirty days before Rosh Hashanah; and if he planted, or layered, or grafted, he must uproot it. R’ Yehudah says: Any graft which has not taken hold by three days will not subsequently take hold. R’ Yose and R’ Shimon say: By two weeks.

Rice, millet, poppy and sesame which took root before Rosh Hashanah are tithed according to the [year] past and are permitted in the seventh [year]; but if not, they are forbidden in the seventh [year] and are tithed according to the coming year.

R’ Shimon Shezuri says: The Egyptian bean which was planted for seed from the very beginning is like them. R’ Shimon says: Thick beans are like them. R’ Elazar says: Thick beans [only] when they formed pods before Rosh Hashanah.

Onions which produce no seed, and the Egyptian bean, from which one withheld water thirty days before Rosh Hashanah, are tithed according to the [year] past and are permitted in the seventh [year]; if not, they are forbidden in the seventh [year] and are tithed according to the coming year. [If they are] from a field watered by rain — that he withheld water from them for two periods; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. But the Sages say: Three.

Gourds which he kept for seed — if they hardened before Rosh Hashanah and became unfit for human consumption, it is permitted to keep them in the seventh [year]; but if not, it is forbidden to keep them in the seventh [year]. Their sproutings are forbidden in the seventh [year]. One may water white soil; [these are] the words of R’ Shimon. R’ Eliezer ben Yaacov forbids [this]. One may stir the rice paddy during the seventh [year]. R’ Shimon says: But one may not trim [the rice plants].

From when may one remove dung to the heaps? From when the workers stop work; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. R’ Yehudah says: From when the fertilizer dries up. R’ Yose says: From when [it] becomes knotty.

How much dung may be heaped? Up to three heaps per beis seah, each consisting of ten containers [of dung] of a lesach each. One may add to the containers, but one may not add to the heaps. R’ Shimon says: Even to the heaps.

A person may establish three heaps to a beis seah [in] his field; more than this, he must make a hollow; [these are] the words of R’ Shimon. But the Sages forbid [this] unless he lowers [the dumpsite] three [handbreadths into the ground] or raises [it] three [above the ground]. A person may place his dung in a stockpile. R’ Meir forbids this unless he lowers [the dumpsite] three [handbreadths into the ground] or raises [it] three [above the ground]. [If] he had a small amount, he may add to it continually. R’ Elazar ben Azaryah forbids [this] unless he lowers [the dumpsite] three [handbreadths], or raises [it] three, or unless he puts [it] on a boulder.

. Someone penning [animals] in his field makes a corral of two beis seah, [and then] removes three sides and leaves the middle; this results in his having penned an area of four beis seah. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: An area of eight beis seah. [If] his total field was an area of four beis seah, he must leave over part of it, because of the appearance of impropriety. He [then] removes [it] from the enclosure and puts [it] into this field in the manner of those who store dung.

A person may not open a quarry initially in his field, unless it has in it three rows, which are three [cubits] by three [cubits] by a height of three [cubits] — their measure [being] twenty-seven stones.