The 



Object of 

 Cultivation 



Cultivation 



Enriches 



Soil 



The modern farmer keeps the horse cultivator going almost 

 constantly. He does not wait until the weeds have come up^ 

 but he nips them before or as soon as they have germinated, 

 thus not only destroying the seed or the weed itself, but before 

 it has got a footing, and long before it can go to seed to repro- 

 duce itself in the same field another year. In fact, the modern 

 farmer cultivates not to destroy half-grown or full-grown weeds, 

 but for the good of cultivation itself — to keep the surface of 

 the soil in a fine, friable condition, to form a mulch on the sur- 

 face which is known to conserve the moisture of the soil and 

 thus to offset the effect of drouth; also to thoroughly mix the 

 fertilizer or manure with the soil in order that each pound of 

 soil may have its grain of plant food, and in order that the 

 little rootlets may have an easier and better place in which to 

 feed. Finally, he cultivates to admit the air and warmth in 

 order to promote a crop of bacteria in the soil, without which 

 the crop above the soil will not thrive. 



The modern farmer, therefore, cultivates to enrich his 

 soil, for that is what he really does when he conserves moisture 

 and encourages the growth of bacteria. The killing of weeds 

 is only incidental. In fact, if he has been thorough in his pre- 

 vious treatment of the soil, he practically has no weeds to kill, 

 for they have been cultivated to extinction, except in case of 

 frequent applications of stable manure. 



To thousands of practical farmers in the East, and to 

 many "dry farmers" in the West, weeds and ordinary drouth 

 are no terror, they do not enter into their calculations; 

 but these advanced farmers cultivate, and cultivate, and still 

 cultivate. Thus their crops thrive and they thrive with them. 



Reduce Acreage and Intensify Treatment 



Use 

 High 

 Grade 

 Fertilizers 



This leads us to recommend a reduction in the amount of 

 land cultivated, and to apply the same quantity or even more 

 fertilizer per acre to the reduced area. We also recommend 

 that high-grade fertilizers be used, for in the end they are 

 cheapest. The overhead or general expenses which must be 



Note. — Since writing the above (page 33) about weeds, the author has heard, at a 

 public meeting, a successful market gardener state that he favored a growth of weeds 

 after the chief crop was matured or harvested, in order to catch and hold any soluble 

 plant food which might be left over in the soil; the weeds to be plowed under in late fall 

 or early spring. 



34 



