TILLAGE AND TILLAGE TOOLS 
37 
when the ground is not too wet and the plants are not so 
large as to make tillage impossible without physical 
injury. 
Level tillage is unquestionably best except for special 
purposes. Hilling is sometimes justifiable, but the prac- 
tice is far too general. The main excuse for the practice 
is that it serves to eradicate weeds when they have got- 
ten very much of a start during wet weather. 
Tillage should begin as soon as possible after sowing 
or transplanting by cultivating about 2J/2 inches deep at 
first, decreasing the depth as the crop advances. The 
FIG. 5. DIFFERENT FORMS OF HAND HOES 
importance of reducing the uncultivated row-strip to 
a minimum width is not fully appreciated by most grow- 
ers. Workmen can usually get much closer to the rows 
than they think they can. Cultivators do better work 
than hand hoes and reduce the cost of tillage. 
72. Hoeing. — As previously indicated (71), hand hoe- 
ing is never so efficient as cultivating with horse imple- 
ments or wheel hoes. Lhiless crops are planted in check 
rows, some hand hoe work is necessary in growing nearly 
all crops. But even check rows do not always eliminate 
the use of hand hoes. The work should not be neglected 
