340 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



July, 191 



hoeing and peas, spinach, etc., can be 

 harvested while the second hoeing is in 

 process. The foregoing table shows that 

 my harvesting began last year on June 

 1 2th and continued until October 6th, the 

 night of the first frost. This table shows 

 what was picked each week and what we 

 would have been obliged to pay the vege- 

 table man therefore if we had not had the 

 backyard garden. These are actual figures 

 and dates. 



THE REASONS FOR HOEING 



Being desirous of having my garden a 

 financial success, I consulted an agri- 

 culturist for a theory of hoeing; that is, 

 why we hoe} I wondered whether we hoed 

 the garden because our grandfathers did 

 or whether there is some real chemical 

 reason. I also wondered whether we 

 should hoe the garden irrespective of weeds 

 or only when there are weeds. 



The agriculturist said he thought 

 most people managed their farms and 

 gardens as the elders with whom they had 

 been associated with in such work did and 

 without exercising their reasoning faculties 

 particularly. The way of least resistance 

 is commonly followed in these pursuits. 

 Most men have a habit of hoeing crops 

 just so many times, and have come to 

 think that they cannot possibly find time 

 to do any more work in the same line. 

 These men totally disregard the theory of 

 hoeing and usually the autumn shows a 

 crop of weeds as tall or taller than was 

 the main crop. 



These weeds, as before remarked, may be 

 useful to turn under as humus, though not 

 half as useful as certain of the legumes 

 before alluded to; and then every weed 

 that has fully matured will shed almost 

 countless seeds to reproduce their kind 

 the following or some subsequent season, 

 entailing much labor to the person who has 

 the future tilling to do. 



There is a theory and purpose in hoeing. 

 The first idea is to kill the weeds, lest they 

 deprive the soil of plant food and rob the 

 main crop of nourishment. If there was 

 no other object, hoeing should begin early 

 and be repeated systematically while the 

 weeds are small and barely show above 

 ground. A few minutes spent in a garden 

 semi-weekly during the early weeks, will 

 accomplish more than a larger amount 

 of time after the weeds have been allowed 

 to make growth. In other words, it is 

 an economy of time to keep ahead of the 

 weeds; and the effect of prompt treatment 

 of the weed pest upon the backyard garden 

 crop is of large moment, setting aside the 

 satisfaction to the person who has the 

 garden in charge. 



Hoeing, however, should be done regardless 

 of weeds or if the ground is not weedy. 

 The soil is benefited by the stirring which 

 it gets from the hoe or whatever implement 

 is used, and there are many valuable 

 implements for this use. The ground 

 should not be hoed when it is wet; but 



as soon as it dries sufficiently, the surface 

 should be stirred to open the pores and let 

 in the atmosphere, which contains nitrogen 

 and other chemical elements of great use 

 to the roots of vegetables and plants. 

 Neither sun nor air can penetrate a wet 

 and caked soil, especially one composed 

 largely of clay. 



And also in droughty times there is 

 especial need to stir the soil of a backyard 

 garden. The purpose here is to make a 

 mulch of the dry surface soil with a view 

 to admit the atmosphere and to conserve 

 the moisture in the subsoil. In arid regions 

 they utilize the dust mulch extensively, 

 and succeed in growing crops where growth 

 would otherwise be impossible. A great 

 success is made of dry farming in some 

 parts of the United States. It is well, 

 therefore, to hoe the backyard garden as 

 often as possible in dry times; and it can 

 be done quickly. There is, moreover, 

 satisfaction in conquering a difficulty like 

 drought, and securing a fair result under 

 adverse conditions. 



I don't suppose the editors will allow me 

 to lecture readers on the subject of laziness, 

 but I must state one fact, viz. : the increased 

 cost of living is not the only result of re- 

 fusing to work in the garden. Our frail 

 health, susceptibility to colds, and general 

 decreased efficiency is primarily due to the 

 fact that we have got out of the habit of 

 exercising. Now, let us get back to earth 

 again! Let us get a hoe and get after the 

 weeds in the backyard garden. Let us 

 look at hoeing as a sport, where we and the 

 weeds are opposed one to the other. Let 

 us get after them with the vim and 

 determination of a sportsman. With this 

 spirit, we will win health and sport with 

 our backyard garden, while reducing the 

 cost of living in addition. 



Plants, like people, need food, water, and 

 air. The food consists of good soil which 

 can only be helped by dressing; the air 

 is obtained through hoeing, and through 

 their leaves. There remains the water 

 factor about which I wish to say a word. 

 Water is an essential element in the develop- 

 ment of plant or vegetable growths. Too 

 little water or too much is bad, although 

 an excess of water is, in many instances, 

 better than a deficiency. This principle 

 is admirably illustrated by the agricultural 

 developments in the United States in 191 1 

 and 191 2. 



In the latter year there was a large 

 amount of moisture accompanied by a 

 lower temperature. Where the deficiency 

 of moisture was most marked in 191 1, the 

 crops were more or less a failure, as in the 

 spring wheat regions of the Northwest.- 

 During 191 2, however, in the same regions, 

 the crops were unprecedented in volume. 

 A proper amount of heat and moisture is 

 essential to the highest development of 

 vegetation. Therefore, it becomes nec- 

 essary to apply drainage where soils are 

 very wet, and desirable to supply artificial 

 irrigation where and when there is lack 

 of moisture. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF PLANT LIFE 



Chemists tell me that plant life and 

 growth are derived from a number of chemi- 

 cal elements, some coming from the air 

 and others from the soil. The elements 

 derived from the air are carbon, hydrogen, 

 oxygen and nitrogen. These elements con- 

 stitute the greater part of plants, forming 

 from 95 to 99 per cent, of their entire weight. 

 The elements furnished to plants exclusively 

 by the soil are phosphorus, sulphur, 

 chlorine, silicon, calcium, iron, potassium, 

 sodium, magnesia, and manganese. Al- 

 though present in small proportions in 

 plants, the soil-derived elements are just 

 as important as the more abundant ele- 

 ments derived from the air. The total 

 number of elements actually necessary in 

 the vegetation of the globe is about four- 

 teen, and they comprise fully one fifth 

 of the elementary substances known to 

 chemists. 



The plant-forming elements are generally 

 combined with oxygen in the soil in com- 

 bination with other elements. Oxygen, 

 these chemists tell me, forms eight-ninths 

 by weight of the waters and nearly one 

 half of the solid crust of the globe. It 

 also forms about one third of all animal 

 and vegetable substances. About one fifth 

 of the bulk of the atmosphere is oxygen 

 gas combined with nitrogen. Oxygen and 

 hydrogen combine to form water. Hydro- 

 gen is present in all animal and vegetable 

 substances. Nitrogen constitutes about 

 four fifths of the bulk of the earth's atmos- 

 phere and is an essential and constant 

 constituent of all plants and animals. 

 Nitrogen and oxygen do not form a chemi- 

 cal union in the atmosphere, but are 

 rather a mechanical mixture in which the 

 office of nitrogen appears to be to dilute 

 the ever active oxygen. 



Without attempting to enlarge further 

 upon the chemical side of the backyard 

 garden, upon which volumes might be 

 written by the scientist, I will simply say 

 that plants absorb the chemical elements 

 mentioned through their roots and leaves, 

 and they thrive or are stunted according 

 as they are able to obtain these in forms 

 which they can appropriate and in the 

 proper quantities. Some of them, as 

 above indicated, are supplied in the form 

 of water, and, in fact, it is doubtful if 

 plant life would develop at all without the 

 element of water. Sources of them are 

 also made available through cultivation 

 of the soil and in other ways. The owner 

 of a backyard garden cannot know too 

 much about the chemistry of vegetable 

 or plant growth; but he can have a very 

 good garden if he will do those things 

 which successful gardeners usually do, 

 leaving the rest to Mother Nature, who 

 will not fail to do her part. Therefore, 

 hoe, hoe, and hoe again. You cannot 

 hoe too much, too long or too often. In 

 fact, I believe that hoeing is one of the 

 very few things in life which cannot be 

 carried to excess! 



