102 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



been puddled by rains it is closely paoked together, and the sides of the 

 soil particles are in close contact. To a certain extent this is desirable in 

 the under soil, as it aids the capillary action of the particles in bringing 

 the water up from below, toward the surface where it will be available for 

 the plants. 



To be of value to the plants, however, it must be held there and pre- 

 vented from evaporating. It is in part because the stirring of the surface 

 loosens it, and, by increasing the size of the spaces between the particles 

 of the soil, lessens the rapidity with which capillary attraction can lift the 

 water to the very surface, that cultivation has such a wonderful effect 

 upon the growth of plants. 



It is a well-known fact that evaporation is most rapid, and the most 

 water is given off, from a clay soil where the surface has been allowed to 

 bake, that is, the rains have puddled it and brought the surfaces of the 

 particles very closely together, so that, as capillary attraction is very 

 rapid, the water is carried to the surface and evaporated faster than it can 

 be brought up from below. Even if a sandy loam soil is untilled, the 

 amount of water given off is one half greater than from another of a simi- 

 lar nature, where the surface of the soil is kept loose. The portion of the 

 soil that is loosened may be the drier for it, and for this reason a soil that 

 is too wet may be aided in giving off its surplus water by deep tillage ; 

 but in a properly drained soil it is better to allow the water to sink down 

 to the level of the ground water, than to aid in throwing it off into the air 

 where it will be lost to the crop. 



Besides the injury that will be done by deep tillage, in cutting off the 

 roots of plants, the water that is given off from the stirred soil would 

 prove of considerable benefit to the crop in a dry season. Aside from its 

 value in destroying weeds and preventing the evaporation from the sur- 

 face, cultivation, by keeping the soil loose and preventing a crust from 

 forming, aids in creating and developing plant food in the soil. 



To be effective the cultivation should be given often enough to keep the 

 surface from baking, in the case of clay, and from settling down and 

 becoming compact in the case of sand soils. At any rate, all soils should 

 be stirred after every rain, so soon as the ground has dried sufficiently to 

 work. 



For garden crops it is well to have some tool that can be run over the 

 surface a few days after the seed is sown and before the plants are up. 

 This will not only break the crust and prevent evaporation, but it will 

 destroy the young weeds and save hand weeding. A little later it should 

 be done again. The common steel rake was formerly used for this pur- 

 pose, but we have found the Improved Breed weeder to do about as good 

 work, and it covers a strip eight feet wide. If it is started before a crust 

 forms, and is used once per week, it will keep the ground in perfect con- 

 dition without injury to the plants. For orchards, after they have been 

 brought into good condition in the spring, they do good work. For heavy 

 soils, especially if they have been allowed to bake, some of the smoothing 

 harrows may be preferable, but after the first dragging in the spring it is 

 best to keep the deep-working tools out of the orchard. 



The effect of frequent shallow cultivation is not only to enable the trees 

 to make a good growth and perfect their crop, but it will generally insure 

 the development of fruit buds for the next years' crop, while on the other 

 hand the trees, without cultivation, are in a weak condition and the crop 

 of fruit will be small and imperfect. 



