Show THE philosophy OF HOEING we take the following from a recent number of the wem new england farmer this is an item of farm work not yet fully appreciated by a large number ol 01 our farmers it involves some onie exceedingly inte interesting and important principles that are fittie little understood and which the farmer cannot well afford to neglect if he means to secure a profit from his crops in the first place if the ground is not frequently hoed it soon becomes covered with what we call weeds that is 1 plants of armore atmore a more moro hardy nature tha than those which we cultivate which take possession os session of the soil both above and below appropriating its fertilizing qualities crowding and shading the young corn or other plants and fluell finally y overpowering them so that they dwindle away and come to naught look at the loss sustained by such a practice it is no less than that of preparing and hauling the manure spreading ng it out plowing plowing the ground furrowing planting an and ana covering and the waste of seed and the loss of land when proper cultivation is neglected all these are not the only losses for a crop of rank weeds is produced which scatters its seeds far and near to exhaust the soil and vex the husbandman for many future years Is not the neglect to hoe and properly cultivate a crop after it has come up a most shortsighted short sighted and suicidal policy the same policy pursued in mercantile affairs would ruin the most skillful merchant in the land the old adage one years seeding makes nine ewla years weeding is one that ought ever to be borne in mind i A single weed oftentimes if permitted to grow and mature its seeds will be the means of ultimately abstracting from the soil as much alimentary matter as would suffice for the support of a valuable crop of wheat or corn being indigenous weeds are invariably strong feeders and require a vast amount of nutriment for their support hence their well known and powerfully exhausting effect upon soils the thistle when permitted to obtain root soon occupies the land to the entire exclusion of more desir desirable abier abler vegetation and the same is the case with several other species of plants like vicious habits they flourish by indulgence till finally they usurp complete control and bid defiance to every effort but this is not all suppose the land is free from the seeds of foreign plants and no weeds make their appearance among the crops is hoeing unnecessary 9 by a great many farmers it is thought to be so which shows that the prime rime 1 object iii in hoeing is supposed to ete ele be the eradication of weeds only let us see if this is the case i land that has been plowed harrowed and brought brought to a pretty smooth surface and left in n that condition sogn soon has a crust formed upon it in consequence of the evaporation of the moisture which it contained this crust will vary from a quarter of an inch to an inch in thickness and on some soils becomes so tenacious that a cake of it several inches 1 in diameter maybe may be taken up when land is in this thili condition it is not in a proper state to receive the fertilizing influences which always surround it and of which it would avail itself under inore lnore boore favorable circumstances j 1 if the season is a d dry ry one and showers are few and light haht that crust I 1 will lead off most of the he t water into low places instead of receiving it into the soil boll as it would if the surface were light and porous 2 when in this condition the roots of the crop are especially deprived of three things viz the moisture which the rainwater rain raiff water supplies the ammonia which is carried along with it and the heat which the rainwater rain water contains the first is indispensable to plants the second is a powerful stimulant as it renders other matter soluble which feeds the roots and the third supplies a bottom heat for them which keeps the plants growing when cold and chilling winds are passing over the surface these several advantages are in a great measure lost by neglecting frequently to stir the soil 3 suppose a drouth prevails will an field resist its influences as ion lon long iong as a field well weil hoed bothin nothing like ilke it because because when the rain falls it is mostly led off on the impervious crust unless it comes in the character of a storm and continues for many hours if well hoed however the surface is light porous and in a condition to be influenced by several causes first by the air the atmosphere not only hangs over our fields but rests upon the surface with a pressure of fifteen pounds to an inch this air or atmosphere mo sphere is always filled with moisture as may be demonstrated at noon of any hot day by filling a pitcher with cold coid coldwater water in a few moments the outside of the pitcher is covered with beautiful transparent drops where do they come from why the pitcher sweats exclaim several about the table but no water passes through it certainly as moisture does through the pores of the skin when we sweat nor was any water spilled upon the outside of it when it was filled although the dr drops have now trickled down its sides an and wet a place a foot square in the table cloth wonderful how came it there no human eye is keen enough 0 to detect the alchemy of the transmutation the pitcher being eing filled with cold water becomes a condenser and when the warm air touches it its vapor or moisture is condensed and formed formea into drops an on the outside and this p proves oves that the air is full of moisture how now nowr in a well cultivated field this is precisely the operation of the al air r upon it during a drouth the surface of the soil is light and porous the air containing moisture rests upon it and passes through the loose particles until it gets down where the soil is cooler than itself and is then condensed and the field is actu actually all ail watered in the middle of the hottest day in july this operation is continually going on through the hot clear clew days in the ni ht when the air becomes cooler than the tarth earth earth the moisture is condensed on the th e leaves ea es of plants and blades of grass rass and is called dew some of this falls fails falls to the ground and is taken up by the loose soil other portions are absorbed by the plants and aud the remainder goes back into the air by evaporation when the solar rays impart their heat to it thus the field of the careful farmer if nicely hoed ia is daily watered in the hottest day by natures own processes processed while that of the careless farmer is pinched for the want of moisture the corn leaves curl turn yellow and lose so much vitality that the crop is ruined who will say then that hoeing is not among the most important items of farm work |