MULCHING, SHADING, AND WATERING. 251 



deeply than in those that are cold and moist, as hoeing 

 favors evaporation, and this may prove injurious where* 

 the sun is hot and the rains arc not frequent. So in 

 spring, hoe more deeply and frequently than when the 

 season becomes advanced. A heavy, argillaceous soil 

 should be more deeply moved than one more sandy. 

 Where a poor soil has been recently manured, it should 

 not be hoed too deeply, but the compost should be allowed 

 to remain intermixed with the surface soil. 



In practice the plants cultivated and their stage of ad- 

 vancement must also be considered. Plants with long 

 tap-roots, like beets and carrots, are benefited by deep 

 hoeing, which might be injurious to those with fibrous 

 and spreading roots. Among the latter, deep culture be- 

 tween the rows is beneficial, so long as the plants are 

 young, and their roots not extended; but when they begin 

 to shade much of the surface, and to occupy most of the 

 soil with their roots, merely loosening the immediate sur- 

 face, at the same time destroying all weeds, will be quite 

 sufficient. 



All garden crops, then, should be frequently and deeply 

 hoed early in the season, and in the early stages of their 

 growth. Even to suppress the weeds which spring up 

 freely in the moist soil at that time requires frequent and 

 thorough hoeing. Of course, hoeing, or moving the soil 

 in any way, is not to be undertaken while it is wet. When 

 young seedling plants first appear, the earth must be 

 lightly stirred about them, to break up any crust upon the 

 surface that may have formed. Take care not to injure 

 the young plants, though at this time the mutilation of a 

 few roots, if the most of them are unhurt, is easily re- 

 paired; and the plant is not so much injured by their loss 

 as benefited by that thorough pulverization of the soil 

 that permits the free extension of the roots, and opens it 

 to the air and night dews. 



