MULCHING, SHADING, AND WATERING. 253 



absorbed at night; and a plot frequently hoed during a 

 drought would at length become quite dry to nearly the 

 depth it was cultivated. However it may be in England, 

 here no deposit of moisture from night dews, or supply 

 brought up by capillary attraction from beneath, can 

 make good the loss of water by evaporation from the soil 

 in a hot summer day. De Candolle says that in most hot 

 countries frequent hoeings are avoided, as the}' really 

 have the evil of favoring evaporation of moisture from 

 the soil at the time when, the heat being most intense, 

 the water is naturally retained therein by the hardening 

 of its surface, and would act with most activity in decom- 

 posing and dissolving the organic matters it contains. 

 The true course is deep, thorough culture early in the 

 season and while plants are young. But hoeing must not 

 be performed in spring or autumn, at times when the in- 

 dications are that frosty nights will follow, as tender 

 plants are much more likely to be killed thereby from 

 the increased evaporation at the surface of fresh dug soil. 

 Through the summer, after each good rain, as soon as the 

 ground will do to work, stir the surface and kill the weeds, 

 leaving it in a light, friable condition, to be undisturbed, 

 unless to destroy any weeds that appear, until another 

 rain renders further hoeing necessary. Continue this 

 until the plants approach blossoming, or begin to cover 

 the ground, after which hoeing, if performed at all, must 

 be as shallow as possible. A soil thus managed is always 

 open to atmospheric influences, and what moisture it may 

 have or receive is better retained. 



