The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-06-27

An old English Author on Agriculture
maintained that the earth was always rich, and
that the secret of manuring was to keep the
particles Of soil constantly separated by repeat
ed hoeings. Doubtless he was mistaken IN his
theory, if he supposed it to apply to all soils;
but that frequent stirring of the earth ena-
bles the roots to extend and take 1000, and
therefore operates as manure does to promote
the growth of plants is doubtless very true.
We do not hoe our cultivated crops often
enough. One merit in witch-grass, is that it
obliqes the cultivator to hoe his ground often to
keep il down, and This is great benefit to the
growing crop. Some people think that hoeirg
makes the land dry, and thereupon it should
not be hoed in drought. Directly the reverse
Is the fact. Hoeing opens the pores, lets in
the air, and this brings moisture to the roots.
The n. e. Farmer has good article Oh this
subject which wa take pleasure in endorsing,
and inserting herewith. -
PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN HoEING Corn
The popular1 opinion is, that hoeing is done
merely to XIII Weeds. 1t will not be difficult to
show that faithful hoeing does much more than
this. even to acGrna,ng, naoistening, and mdnur-
ing the soil while hoeing mp the weeds.
Ihe air about us is always moist. The hot
Ter tue udN IuS ilOTc llUlst IL Is. IL mas Degn
ascertained that in hot day in July, more
than thirteen hundred gallons of water have
been found to evaporate from single acre
of land. The soil has a strong attraction for
water, and it is part of the duty of the at
mOsphere TO penetrate the soil, and moisten
it. as well as TO give us the breath of life
But the soil, on its part, must be in a suitable
condition to receive it. Ii the surface is com
pnct the air cannot readily enter it. When
the weeds are destroyed by the hoe, the sur
face is made loose, the air penetrates it freely
and carries along tho moisture it contains and
thus matters the field. .- .....s.- IN
1t follows, then, that field often hoed,
whether there are weeds or not, will with
stand drought better than one that is not
hoed. +'-- z
70 The soil is as active as the air, for the mo.
ment the air enters, the soil robs it oft,
moisture and passes it along to the roots of the
plants. Thus carefully cultivated field may
be covered with luxuriant crops durin. a
drought while those on the hard surface OF an
other may be perishing for want of moisture
The air also contains other elements besides
moisture. One of them is ammonia, which is
exceedingly valuable to crops, and it ia sifted
from the atmosphere by the falling rain.
When the surface of the field is fine, showers
readily penetrate it, carry the ammonia down
into the soil, and thus manure it by every rain
that falls. The water passes along, the am
monia it contains touches minerals that ara in
d the soil, and dissolving portions of them sun
plies the roots of plants with the food they
need.
Were it not for the agency of ammonia,
soils might abound i'll valuable minerals which
would remain inactive, and crops upon them
would fail to come to perfection. Thus it
seems clear that keeping soils in porous con-
ditton, results in an actual nlanuring of
them.
Water thus admitted to the soil contains a
sensible amount ofheat, which is arrested by it,
and kept there to warm and stimulate the roots
OF plants. - q 4 - ; IL
Is 1t not clear, then, attentive reader, that
frequently stirring the soil does actually des-
troy weeds, nloisten the soil, tUdra the soil and
manure it? The theory is rational and sustain
ed by oft-repeated experiments. Every farmer
may satisfy himself by little care and consid-
cradle observation, that the operation of hoe
Ing has an efficacy entirely beyond that Of
merely destroying the weeds - - - IL
We are not yet sufficiently systematic a'nd
pans-taking in our farm work. We do not
generally realize the fact that thorough tillamn
is almost as good for the crop as Iight applica-
ton Of manure to lands cultivated liz a slovenlv
manner.
We must feel assured of the fact that tillaos
hGs the same eject as 7nGr,are; that the literal
meaning OF the word manure is hand labor. as
well as OF n dressing. To manure tile land is
TO noe, to STR the sod, to expose it to che atmo-
sphere, to blow, to harrow, to cultivate in adj
dlsion TO all We can get from the stalls, or in
any other way, as manure a TH
The ancient Romans made Sterculius a god
because he discovered that the droppinos of
animals had the same effect upon the soil as to
hoe i'll y
Keep these facts in mind, and hoe, e.-Hos
until harVests are ready to. be gathered if a
weed is to be found among them.
.