84 



CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



illustrative of the sort of tillage which gives in California rank 

 summer growth without rain, that a few comments will be indulged 

 in. 



The first and most obvious reflection which comes to one who 

 does summer hoeing in an arid land is that the handling of the hoe 

 which he practiced in his boyhood in eastern garden or cornfield is 

 not the hoeing which avails most now and here. The light, shallow 

 stroke, which fell just below the root crown of the weed, stirred the 

 immediate surface a little and left the field clean, used to be the 

 touch for eastern hoeing, and a man could almost do it at walking 

 speed for hours upon hours. Except a little extra deep work, which 

 was called for when the occasional short droughts threatened, this 

 shallow weed-cutting was sufficient to give the crop the upper hand 

 in the struggle with weeds, and the frequent showers kept the sur- 

 face moist enough to prevent baking. 



It is to be inferred from recent reports that there is less shallow 

 hoeing done now than a generation ago at the east, and deeper sum- 

 mer cultivation has been found profitable there. However this may 

 be, it is clear that shallow hoeing is a delusion and a snare in this 

 country. Practice it through the spring and as long as the weeds 

 start, and your garden surface will be dusty. Think then con- 

 tentedly about what you have heard of a mulch of dust-retaining 

 moisture. Can it be possible, instead of shooting upward, the plant 

 just holds its own and then goes backward, wilting, yellowing its 

 leaves, and all but dying in its distress? Surely there must be a 

 worm at the root. The hoe is seized and brought down upon the 

 soil at an angle and with a force it has not known all summer. How 

 the dust flies from the surface, and how the hoe flies from the hard- 

 pan just beneath the dust as though it had been brought down 

 upon a marble slab. Then there come to mind thoughts on hoeing 

 which never came before. Then it becomes plain that the shaP 

 low weed-cutting stroke is not the dash of the hoe which saves the 

 plant. 



One who goes through this experience once will know better 

 how to hoe next time. He will see that by sharp, deep strokes, 

 often using the corners of the blade, he will maintain a loose layer 

 upon the surface which will be thick enough to prevent direct 

 evaporation from a hard-pan layer and thus to break the connection 

 between capillary action and the atmosphere. Such hoeing is harder 

 than light work with the blade nearly horizontal. It takes muscle 



