CHAP. L] hoeing. 17 



the surface of the soil is become so hard as to 

 exclude the. air from the roots of the plants, 

 the ground in which they grow will be nearly as 

 cold in summer as in winter. Besides, when the 

 surface of the ground is hard, the rain, instead 

 of soaking gradually into it, runs off, or evapo- 

 rates, without being of any service to the roots. 

 The operation of forking consists merely in 

 thrusting the fork a little way into the ground 

 by the application of the foot to the hilt, and 

 then pulling back the handle as in digging, so 

 as to loosen the earth without raising "it. The 

 ground may thus be roughly pulverised to a 

 considerable depth, without dividing the roots 

 of the plants ; which would have been inevi- 

 table if the operator had used a spade. 



Hoeing. — There are several different hoes 

 which are used for getting up weeds, for loosen- 

 ing the soil, for drawing it up round the stems 

 of growing plants, and for making a shallow 

 furrow or drill for sowing seeds : but all these 

 kinds belong to one of two great divisions, viz. 

 the draw hoe (Jig. 2.), and the thrust hoe {fig. 

 3.), and may be seen at any ironmonger's shop. 



Fig. 2. draw hoe. 



z> 



Fig. 3. thrust hoe. 



Either kind may be used for destroving weeds ; 

 as the weeds may either be loosened or lifted 



