MULCHING, SHADING, AND WATERING. 



149 



soil be deeply moved and finely pulverized, the labor neces- 

 sary in the subsequent culture of garden crops is greatly 

 diminished. Still the hoe cannot be dispensed with, and 

 the soil is stirred therewith among our growing crops, in 

 order that the earth may be kept in a light and permeable 

 state, so that the roots of plants may extend freely through 

 it in search of food. If kept in this condition, water de- 

 posited by rain and dew is imbibed more readily and sinks 

 more deeply into the soil, supplying plants both with moist- 

 ure and ammonia. Moisture from beneath is also more free- 

 ly supplied by capillary attraction from the subsoil if the 

 earth is kept in a light, porous state. The atmosphere, la- 

 den with nutritive gases, freely penetrates the soil and de- 

 posits nourishment within reach of the young rootlets of 

 plants. By the same process weeds are destroyed, their 

 growth prevented, and there is also a thorough pulveriza- 

 tion and intermixture with the soil of the manures which 

 have been applied. 



Judgment as to the time and manner of hoeing must be 

 exercised. Even hoeing may do harm — but there is more 

 danger that it will not be done sufficiently often, than per- 

 formed imperfectly. In a hot and a dry climate, hoe less 

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

 vors evaporation, and this may prove injurious where the 

 sun is hot and the rains are not frequent. So in spring, hoe 

 more deeply and frequently than when the season becomes 

 advanced. A heavy, argillaceous soil should be more deep- 

 ly 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 spread- 

 ing roots. Among the latter, deep culture between the 



