CHAPTER IV. 

 CULTIVATION AND TILLAGE. 



CULTIVATION is the process of either breaking up the 

 soil for the purpose of planting agricultural crops or stir- 

 ring it to accelerate plant growth. Cultivation for the 

 improvement of the crop should be continued at frequent 

 intervals during the growing period of every crop. The 

 importance of cultivation cannot be overestimated and the 

 efficiency with which it is done depends upon the kind of 

 tools used, and how skilfully the operator uses them. Much 

 importance is laid upon the way in which cultivation is 

 done, because often the difference between profit and loss 

 is found in either good or bad cultivation. Good cultiva- 

 tion is one of the secrets of success in all kinds of agricul- 

 tural work, and it is even more important in crops that are 

 grown intensively, as are most of the horticultural crops. 

 Horticultural crops require a great amount of attention to 

 produce the maximum yield and the highest quality. Cul- 

 tivation goes a long way in bringing about these good results. 



It is important that cultivation should be done at the 

 proper time, and much depends upon the character and the 

 thoroughness of the operations. There is always a proper 

 time to perform a piece of work and cultivation is no excep- 

 tion to this rule, and things worth doing at all are worth 

 doing well. Cultivation when properly done should make 

 the soil loose and friable, and all of the large lumps should 

 be broken up. 



The failure to cultivate the garden at the proper time 

 often results in the weeds overrunning the plants, which 

 not only reduces the yield, but causes great labor and 

 unnecessary expense in hand hoeing and in weeding. When 

 the conditions of the soil are satisfactory for cultivation, it 



