CULTIVATION. The term includes all operations for preparing the soil for those crops which man specially selects for his use. The spade, the hoe, and the plow, have been the primary implements of C. among all nations as far back as their civilization can lie traced. All these effect much the same end. By their means the soil is stirred and inverted, which keeps under the vegetation that is supplanted, and loOsens.die. soil to admit of the roots of the sown plants to run through it. The harrow or rake, on the other hand, is employed to smooth the surface and cover the seed. To allow of the 5 of the crops when they are growing, in many cases the seeds are planted or sown in rows. Cereals, for instance, are, with this view, often sown with a drill in rows from O to 9 in. apart; and the narrow rows are either cultivated by the hand or horiS hoe. Again, turnips, potatoes, and other green crops, are sown at wider intervals, from 24 to 30 in., and are cultivated during their growth by horse-hoes of various descrip. tions. The implements used in C. will be best treated under their special names. and under the different crops the peculiarities of their cultivation will be considered. A.
few general principles, however, which ought to be kept in view in the C. of all cropfi may be here stated.
The soil, in the first place, should be as completely inverted as possible, since it is an important object to smother or bury the surface-plants, and permit them to decay within the soil and yield food for the plants to be sown. In the second place, it should be rendered as loose and comminuted as possible; for earth in this state both allows an excess of water to pass through it more easily, and it also retains a larger supply within it for the wants of vegetation when the weather is dry. Land that is tilled in autumn may be left open, rough, and cloddy, as the frost of winter will loosen and pulverize it by spring. In a dry and warm climate, the desired state of the soil is secured by abundant plowing, rolling, and other operations. In a wet and moist climate, these must be more sparingly resorted to, as a moderately rough-mold facilitates the draining away of excessive rains, and prevents the soil from becoming consolidated by such excess.