146 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
June, 1917 
Insure Garden Harvest by Lib- 
eral Use of the Hoe. 
By Professor J. G. Moore. 
The summer months are the 
critical periods in the city garden. 
The garden fervor of spring has 
worn off in the work of soil prep- 
aration and planting and the gar- 
den operations assume more and 
more the aspect of drudgery. Al- 
though the gardener may feel less 
like hoeing and raking than he 
did earlier in the season, he must 
give the plants more attention in 
these respects than earlier in the 
season if the harvest is to be 
worth while. This is the test 
which reveals the real gardener. 
We might designate this period 
as the “Three T” period of gar- 
dening — the thorough, timely, 
tillage period. The gardener’s 
motto at this time should be 
* ‘ Catch moisture— hold moist- 
ure.” The demand of the plants 
for moisture as the warmer 
weather comes on is ever increas- 
ing. Moisture is necessary for 
plant growth and unless there is 
an abundant supply available for 
the plant, growth ceases, the parts 
used for food fail to develop or 
are of such a nature as to be un- 
desirable. Moisture, therefore, 
becomes at this time the chief 
concern of the gardener. Til- 
lage is the chief dependence of 
the average gardener in supply- 
ing this essential of success- 
ful gardening. 
Tillage is Garden Life. 
Not only does the plant de- 
mand moisture, it must also have 
an abundance of available food. 
The old sayings, “Tillage is essen- 
tially manure,” and “The best 
garden fertilizer is the hoe,” are 
indicative of the importance of 
tillage in making available to the 
plants this requisite of growth. 
Many a garden convert is 
caused to blackslide because of 
the persistent opposition of weeds. 
In the conflict Avitli Aveeds, till- 
age is of prime importance. 
Properly used, tillage renders 
Aveeds negligible factors in gar- 
dening. It may not do so the 
first season under the same condi- 
tions, but unless quack grass or 
some Aveed of similar character is 
the offender, the conflict is a com- 
paratively easy one. Thorough, 
timely tillage, then, ordinarily 
equals a good moisture supply, 
abundant available plant food, 
and an absence of weeds. 
Till Soil Thoroughly. 
What is thorough tillage as re- 
gards these important factors in 
insuring the harvest? It is that 
tillage Avhich produces conditions 
best .fitted to accomplish the de- 
sired results. The ideal condi- 
tion for all objects is the same; 
the continuation of a shallow lay- 
er of soil, as nearly dust like as 
possible, 0A r er the entire surface. 
The methods of securing this 
ideal may be various, but the fol- 
loAving program is Avell adapted 
to produce and maintain it. First 
of all the preparation tillage of 
the early season should have been 
such as to create a large moisture 
holding reservoir and place the 
soil in a fine, loose condition. 
The maintenance tillage Avill then 
be as f oIIoaa's : 
Hoe or rake the area to be 
planted immediately preceding 
soAving or planting. 
Hoe entire garden at least once 
a Aveek if soil conditions permit. 
Hoe, and if necessary, rake af- 
ter each shower of sufficient ex- 
tent to pack the soil. 
This tillage should be shallow, 
for deep tillage Avill destroy many 
of the roots of the plants and 
AA'ould probably do more damage 
than good. 
Till at Proper Time. 
The old adage, “A stitch in 
time saA'es nine,” applies admir- 
ably to garden tillage. Many 
gardeners pay a heavy penalty 
for not tilling Avhen garden con- 
ditions are most favorable for til 
lage. 
The best time to destroy Aveeds 
is just as the young plants ap- 
pear above the surface. Tillage 
at this time will sav r e much hard 
Avork in eradicating Aveeds later 
on. 
The best time to restore the soil 
mulch is after a rain, before the 
surface soil becomes baked. A 
feAv hours delay after the soil is 
fit for working often means from 
three to four times as much work 
to. restore the soil mulch and of- 
ten a much less effective mulch 
than had the Avork been done on 
time. 
Tillage may be untimely by be- 
ing done too soon after a rain. 
This is particularly true on the 
heavier types of soil. A lieaA'y 
soil Avorked Avet cements or 
puddles and then bakes, destroy- 
ing its tilth and making it very 
difficult or impossible to re-estab- 
lish a good soil mulch. Timeli- 
ness, then, on such soils means 
tilling neither too soon nor de- 
laying tillage too long. The fol- 
loAving test Avill prove advantage- 
ous in determining whether the 
soil is in condition for tillage. 
Take a handful of soil and squeeze 
it firmly. If, upon opening the 
hand, the soil falls apart upon 
little or no disturbance, then til- 
lage is safe. If the particles ad- 
here tenaciously, it is best to let it 
dry before tilling. 
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