278 APPENDIX. 
there could be given frequent hocings and cultivations. These are 
necessary to obtain good results ; for, as we have previously seen, the 
gramineous plants, which harden the soil, exact, as a condition upon 
which they will yield the best results, a very complete and thorough 
cultivation. 
For irrigating, you make little furrows at the foot of the lines of the 
sorgho, and water is caused to run through them as often as the state 
of the plant and the season admits. Arrived at this point of the 
growth cf the vegetable, an important question presents itself for our 
examination. Should we hill, or should we not hill? . M. Hardy tells 
us that hilling is necessary to insure to the plants the means of resist- 
ing winds, and to favor the growth of advantageous roots, which are 
thrown out by the sorgho, as with the corn, at the bottom of the stalk. 
Dr. Sicard thinks on the contrary, that hilling is dangerous. He ex- 
plains his opinion by this fact, that the Chinese Sugar Cane has need 
of roots elevated above the soil, taking from the atmosphere the food 
furnished, without doubt, by the superincumbent air, and an elabora- 
tion of the sap, which is due to the contact of its roots with ihe soil. 
The comparative experiments made upon the same field of sorgho had 
been entirely favorable to the canes which were not hilled. 
In reality, in a soil in good condition, the roots of the plant can 
penetrate so deeply that they can resist the effect of the wind. Upon 
the question of adventitious roots and the hilling, we cannot defini- 
tively decide, because of our want of decisive experience. However, 
we believe, since its roots are provided with spongioles or suckers, that 
burying them cannot be injurious if hilling is moderately used, so as 
only to cover a little of these roots in such a manner that the air, being 
absorbed by the soil, can stimulate them, and aid in the decomposition 
of materials that they may absorb. We know that the roots of the 
cereals are so superficial that they take away from the svil much, be- 
cause they grow in a limited circle, and that the loosening of the soil 
augments its permeability for the atmosphere, and the gases favorable 
for vegetation which are contained in it give an activity much greater 
for the growth of the plants whose preducts are found considerably 
increased by these means. We believe, then, that these adventitious 
roots may be covered by hilling, if only we do not suffocate them under 
