Cvltivation and tillage 



80 



Remarks. June 4th : The weather is still cold and the summer 

 has not yet begun. 



June 20th : Hot day following on some hot, dry weather. 

 June 27th : Rain had recently fallen. 



When hoeing is done in the early part of the summer 

 it dries the soil, and the more frequent the hoeing the 

 drier the soil (see June 4th results). But later on, when 

 the hot weather begins, the hoed soil loses much less 

 moisture than the untouched plot; the latter lost 6*4 

 per cent, in 16 days in the top six inches, whilst the 

 soil hoed once weekly lost 3*1 per cent., and the one 

 hoed three times weekly lost only 1*4; the two hoed 

 soils are now equal, and are both moister than the 

 untouched soil. When more rain comes they get just 

 as wet as the others: hoeing does not prevent water 

 from sinking in, but it does prevent water from getting 

 lost. 



Our experiment has, therefore, shown us that hoeing 

 makes a loose layer of soil which shields the rest of the 

 soil from the suns heat, and prevents it getting too hot 

 or too dry. A hoed soil is cooler and moister, and 

 therefore better suited for the growth of pltint roots 

 than an unhoed soil. 



