3 li On Hoeing. 



SECT. XV. On Hoeing. 



THIS is a mode of tillage, which is performed during the 

 growth of a cultivated crop, and its object is, both to im- 

 prove the present crop, and to prepare the ground for the 

 succeeding ones. It is certainly of much use by breaking 

 up the surface, if it has become encrusted ; by promoting 

 the admission of air, and of moisture into the soil ; by im- 

 proving its texture ; by preparing it for the reception of 

 grass-seeds ; and by counteracting that tendency to weeds, 

 in all tilled and corn-bearing ground, which, from their pre- 

 valence in the country around, or from their seed-roots lodg- 

 ing in the soil itself, must be as invariable as the return of 

 the year. This process however, can never supersede the 

 necessity of thorough fallowing, where root- weeds greatly 

 abound ( I5Z ). 



Tull, and his disciples, considered hoeing, as more benefi- 

 cial than common tillage. They contended, that land, when 

 cultivated by the plough, soon begins to coalesce, whereas 

 hoeing, always keeps it in a loose and pulverised state; 

 that by hoeing the plants are kept moist, even in dry wea- 

 ther, their roots being nourished, by the dews which are ab- 

 sorbed, in proportion to the fineness of the soil ; and that 

 plants, which would flourish and grow strong in fine ground, 

 are starved, if the soil is hard and crusty ( l53 ). 



It is now however ascertained, that hoeing is a process, 

 which, in moderation, is useful, but which is hazardous, if 

 carried to an extreme. It is of use, when plants are young, 

 for the reasons above detailed; and if, in the course of the 

 operation, the roots of the plant are injured or destroyed, 

 there is vigour enough in it, when young, to replace what 

 has been lost, and to repair the mischief. But if the hoeing 

 takes place when the crop is more advanced, the new roots 

 are less efficient, the growth of the plant is hardly percep- 

 tible, the increase of bulk is slow, and the ripening becomes 

 irregular. This brought drilling into disrepute, while hoe- 

 ing was indiscriminately practised ; and hence the opinion 

 delivered by the late celebrated Arthur Young, " That those 

 <k who have made careful experiments, have determined, 

 " that equidistant drilling, hoeing only while the plants are 

 " young, is superior to broad-cast ( l54 )." 



Jn cases where it is necessary to employ the hoe for the 

 destruction of weeds, when the crop is more advanced, the 

 earth should be moved at a greater distance than in the first 



