TILLAGE AND TILLAGE TOOLS 



37 



when the ground is not too wet and the plants are not so 

 large as to make tillage impossible without physical 

 injury. 



Level tillage is unquestionably best except for special 

 purposes. Hilling is sometimes justifiable, but the prac- 

 tice is far too general. The main excuse for the practice 

 is that it serves to eradicate weeds when they have got- 

 ten very much of a start during wet weather. 



Tillage should begin as soon as possible after sowing 

 or transplanting by cultivating about 2^/2 inches deep at 

 first, decreasing the depth as the crop advances. The 



FIG. 5. DIFFERENT FORMS OF HAND HOES 



importance of reducing the uncultivated row-strip to 

 a minimum width is not fully appreciated by most grow- 

 ers. Workmen can usually get much closer to the rows 

 than they think they can. Cultivators do better work 

 than hand hoes and reduce the cost of tillage. 



72. Hoeing. As previously indicated (71), hand hoe- 

 ing is never so efficient as cultivating with horse imple- 

 ments or wheel hoes. Unless crops are planted in check 

 rows, some hand hoe work is necessary in growing nearly 

 all crops. But even check rows do not always eliminate 

 the use of hand hoes. The work should not be neglected 



