CHAPTER XI 

 SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 



1. By Means of Tillage 

 la. In general 



265. Tillage is the first consideration in the 

 care of the plant. This is emphatically true in 

 the field; but in the glass-house tillage is reduced 

 to a minimum, in part because the preparation of 

 the soil is so thorough. 



26(5. The objects of tillage, in the care of the 

 plant subsequent to seeding or planting, are 

 three : (a) to supply plant-food, by rendering 

 the soil constituents available ; (b) to supply 

 moisture ; (c) to destroy weeds. The first two 

 captions have been discussed in Chapters ii., 

 iii., iv. 



267. (c) Weeds are only incidental difficul- 

 ties. They are the results of faulty management 

 of the land. If the first attention is given to the 

 crops and the land, the question of weeds will 

 largely take care of itself. It is less important 

 to know the kinds of weeds than it is to know 

 how to till and to crop the land. 



(169) 



