188 
On Rape-chist. 
cludino^ that by the absorption of the manure under, and of the 
finely-divided matter round, the root, the plant will obtain a moi-e 
immediate and direct supply of moisture. 
Again, this increased supply of moisture is one of the beneficial 
effects of hoeing, which is highly advantageous to the growing crop. 
In proof of this it is not necessary to quote the opinions of the 
ancients, or the reasonings of the immortal Tull, the father of the 
drill system of husbandry, who, astonished by the good results of 
hoeing, carried his conviction to the extent that nothing more was 
required to render soils productive than to keep them well pul- 
verized and stirred.* It will be sufficient to say that the action of 
the hoe increases the attraction for moisture, encourages the cir- 
culation of the atmosphere and the nutritive gases, and thus, be 
the soil what it may, adds to its fertility. In the next place it de- 
stroys weeds, which, if permitted to grow, crowd round the root of 
the plant, and by robbing the soil of its fertilizing matters, and 
preventing the free access of the air, materially lessen the produce 
of the corn crop. 
The advantages, then, which we claim (upon the grounds we 
have discussed) for the drill system, are — 
1st. A saving in cost, from there being no waste of the manure 
by escape into the atmosphere, or from absorption by weeds ; and 
from the economy of seed. 
2nd. A gain in produce, from the more ready supply of food to 
the plant, and the consequent earlier development of its organs of 
nutrition ; from the better supply of moisture ; fi-om the destruction 
of weeds ; and from the free access of the atmospheric gases. 
If practical illustration of the truth of this reasoning be required, 
the Avriter would say that few had better opportunities of seeing 
the subject tested than himself. Indeed, it was the practice of his 
father, for several years, never to drill a field without leaving one 
or two portions for a trial of the broad-cast, or other methods of 
applying the seed and tillage. And the result of those trials was 
a full and decided conviction of the superiority of the drill system. 
Two cases, also, which occurred during the present year, will serve 
to illustrate the advantages he claims for this method ; and they 
are not the less valuable because they show what merely the hoeing 
part of the system does for the crop. These cases occurred on 
the farm of Mr. Joseph Dal by, of Compton, near VVetherby. 
Thus, a part of a field of wheat, and a part of a field of oats, 
were left unhocd, and the consequence is, that at this time the 
produce of the unhoed in both cases is less by full five or six 
bushels per acre than that of the hoed. The effect was strikingly 
* Fresh absorption of carbonic acid is caused wherever the soil is 
moved, and the advantage of this is incalculable. — G. Kimberley. 
