Hoeing

“ There is yet one more Benefit Hoeing gives to Plants, which by no Art can possibly be given to Animals: For all that can be done in feeding an Animal is, what has been here already said of Hoeing; that is, to give it sufficient Food, Meat and Drink, at the times it has occasion for them; if you give an Animal any more, ’tis to no manner of Purpose, unless you could give it more Mouths, which is impossible; [53] but in hoeing a Plant the additional Nourishment thereby given, enables it to send out innumerable additional Fibres and Roots, as in one of the Glasses with a Mint in it, is seen ”

“ He thought no more of this untoward event, and went on hoeing until sunset, when, with the other labourers, he shouldered his hoe and prepared to go home.
Never had the distance seemed so great; but at last he found himself by his wife’s bedside. She told him that while he was absent an old woman had called, asking for something to eat, and that as she seemed to have met with some accident, because there was blood running down her face, she invited her in, and told her she might eat what her husband had left untasted. ”

“ Those drawn in any other manner, when they went too far from the Row, and the Holder went to lift the Plough nearer, it would fly back again, like the Sally of a Bell, and go at no Certainty not being subject to the Guidance of the Holder, as the limber Hoe-plough is. The Michaelmas following I began my present Horse-hoeing Scheme; which has never yet deceived my Expectations, when performed according to the Directions I have given my Readers. And the Practice of this Scheme proves the Advantage of deep Hoeing, by the Ends of the Ridges and Intervals ”

“ During all these hoeings the overseer or driver follows the slaves on horseback with a whip, such as has been described. The fastest hoer takes the lead row. He is usually about a rod in advance of his companions. If one of them passes him, he is whipped. If one falls behind or is a moment idle, he is whipped. In fact, the lash is flying from morning until night, the whole day long. The hoeing season thus continues from April until July, a field having no sooner been finished once, than it is commenced again.
In the latter part of August begins the cotton picking season. ”

“ But since it can be demonstrated, that the Roots of our middle Row do pass through both the outside Rows far into the ho’d Intervals, we may well suppose it to be at least double to what it would have been, if it had no Benefit from the Hoeing, and then our Three will be equal to Forty-two of such Nine unho’d Rows. ”

“ Pulverize the whole Field in Intervals of about Three Feet each, leaving betwixt every Two of them Four Feet Breadth of Ground unplow’d. When the Turf of these Intervals, being cut by the Four coulter’d Plough, is perfectly rotten, one Furrow made by any sort of Plough will hoe one of these Intervals, by changing the whole Surface of it. The poorer the Land is, the more Hoeings will be required; and the oftener ’tis ho’d, with proper Intermissions the first Year, the stronger the St. Foin will become, and the more Years it will continue good, without a Repetition of Hoeing. ”

“ Indeed, seeing little is to be expected from those who have been long attached to different Methods, the surest Way to promote the Use of it, is to engage young Persons, who may probably be better disposed, to make the Trial at their first entering into Business; and then a little Use will make it easy. It is proper to observe here, that the Swing-plough, which is commonly used in the deep Land about London, will do the Business of the Hoe-plough in all Ground that is not very strong, or very stony ”

“ The Batonga will tell you that the assegai is the weapon of the man and the hoe of the woman. As one sees the men always armed with assegais, so the women generally carry a hoe; nor is it always just an ordinary hoe for digging. Her husband sometimes procures for her a dainty little hoe, having the handle beautifully ornamented with fine woven wire. This has no other use than to be carried with her as she goes on a journey or to a wailing, and she is very proud of it and nothing will induce her to part with it. ”

“ Even the stoutest peasant finds the work wearisome.
The man in our picture has paused for a moment's rest in this toilsome labor, and leans panting on his hoe. In the heat of his toil he has thrown off his hat and blouse, which now lie together on the ground behind him. His damp hair is matted together on his forehead, his brawny chest is exposed by the open shirt, his horny hands are clasped over the hoe handle. Some distant object catches his eye. It may be a farm wagon moving across the plain, or perhaps a bird flying through the clear air. ”

“ So many young men made it gay not only for the young ladies, but also for a certain young married lady, when she managed to shirk her rather filial duties to her husband, who was much about the verandas, purblindly feeling his way with a stick, as he walked up and down, or sitting opaque behind the glasses that preserved what was left of his sight, while his wife read to him. ”

“ Then his hood was drawn over his eyes, and he was blindly walked up and down the pier, and back to the gangway, which he knew as soon as he touched it. He pulled, he pranced, he shied, he did all that a bad and stubborn horse can do, till at last a groom mounted his back, a clump of deck-hands tugged at his bridle, and other grooms, tenderly embracing him at different points, pushed, and he was thus conveyed on board with mingled affection and ignominy. ”

“ The African woman has for generations done her planting with either a digging stick or the small African hoe; the tiresome European comes along and worries the men to buy the big heavy hoe, and one can hear the annoyed woman inquiring of her husband why she is being bothered to give up the implement she has been brought up to use with one hand, for a strange thing which is more expensive and requires two hands. ”

“ Behind the structure, half hidden in its shadow, stood a shabby buggy with a lean bay horse in the shafts.
“Get in,” invited Hoag, but Bart Setwick paused for a moment. His generation was not used to such vehicles. Hoag chuckled and said, “Oh, this is only a school wrinkle. We run to funny customs. Get in.”
Setwick obeyed. “How about my trunk?”
“Leave it.” The taller youth swung himself in beside Setwick and took the reins. “You’ll not need it tonight.” ”

“ A castrated male, after it is weaned, is a shot or hog. Hog is the name mostly used by naturalists, and very frequently by writers on agriculture; but, as it sounds so like the name given to young sheep, (hogg,) I shall always use the terms pig and swine for the sake of distinction. The term hog is said to be derived from a Hebrew noun, signifying 'to have narrow eyes,' a feature quite characteristic of this species of animal. A spayed female is a cut sow pig. As long as both sorts of cut pigs are small and young, they are porkers or porklings. ”

“ She began at the bluff on the first uncovered row, and swung down it rapidly, her hoe flashing brightly in the sun as she pulled the dirt over the kernels. But when she had gone less than half the distance to the meadow she stopped at a hill and anxiously examined it a moment. She went on to the next without using her hoe, then on to the next and the next; and, finally, putting it across her shoulder, walked slowly to the end. ”

“ The cotton rows butted up against a county road about a half-mile from the house. And in the weeds along the road ditch was a perfect place for the girl to hide a paper bag full of her clean clothes. And after sundown was a perfect time for her to exchange her hoe for that bag of clothes. So, when the other kids put down their hoes for the night, Wes didn't count kids and didn't notice that the big girl was missing. She had hoed to the far end of the rows and had not returned with the others on that last round after sundown. ”

“ Why, isn't Margaret Rice the one—"
Welling: "What one?"
Mrs. Campbell: "The one that you're engaged—the one that the note was really for?"
Welling: "No! What an idea! Miss Rice? Not for an instant! It's—it's her friend—Miss Greenway—who's staying with her—"
Mrs. Campbell, in a very awful voice: "Willis! Get me some water—some wine! Help me! Ah! Don't touch me! [Pg 37] It was you, you who did it all! Oh, now what shall I do?" She drops her head upon Campbell's shoulder, while Welling watches them in stupefaction.
Campbell: "It's about a million times nicer than we could have expected. ”

“ But her companion was used to the wiles of this tyrant.
“Guess not,” he said quietly. “Didn’t reckon you’d get back that soon. Say, Rosebud, you’d best git out o’ those fixin’s if you’re going to git busy with a hoe. Ma has her notions.”
“Ye-es. Do you think I’m getting any better with a hoe?”
The eyes that looked up into Seth’s face were candidly inquiring. There was not a shadow of a smile on the man’s face when he answered.
“I’ve a notion you have few equals with a hoe.”
“I was afraid——” 71
“Ah, that’s always the way of folks wi’ real talent. Guess you’re an eddication with a hoe.” ”

“ Hogey kept protesting. "I'm a tumbler, ya know? Gravity's got me. Damn gravity. I'm not used to gravity, ya know? I used to be a tumbler—huk!—only now I gotta be a hoofer. 'Count of li'l Hogey. You know about li'l Hogey?"
"Yeah. Your son. Come on."
"Say, you gotta son? I bet you gotta son."
"Two kids," said the driver, catching Hogey's bag as it slipped from his shoulder. "Both girls."
"Say, you oughta be home with them kids. Man oughta stick with his family. You oughta get another job." ”

“ A crowing hen is a disturbance, but so is a crowing cock. But the hen is not to crow because she only lays eggs, and because the bulk of hens manage to lay eggs without crowing. They make, it is true, a peculiar clutter of their own which is just as disturbing; but that is a thoroughly feminine noise and a dispensation of Providence; and they don’t do it at all times of the night, and without a reason for it, as cocks do. But as a matter of fact it is far more easy to prevent a cock from crowing than a hen from cluttering ”

“ At this gracious reception Houarn somewhat recovered himself, and entered the hall.
“Who are you? Whence come you? What seek you?” continued the Groac’h.
“My name is Houarn,” replied the Léonard; [139] “I come from Lanillis; and I am in quest of the wherewithal to buy a little cow and a lean pig.”
“Well, come in, Houarn,” said the fairy; “and dismiss all anxiety from your mind; you shall have every thing to make you happy.” ”

“ In place of that hog's meat, let us have a rasher on the coals, if you so please."
"The muckle fiend be atween your teeth, then, to choak you wi' the first bite!" said the goodwife.
[324]
"Farmer Latchie, I contend not with women," said the man of the sword: "Are you aware of my rights, or do you know and dispute them?"
"I consider yours as merely a nominal right," said he, "which no man is bound to fulfil, because no man does it. All my lord's vassals treat you with common fare. Why should I do more?"
With that a raw-boned young man stepped forward, with a black beard and a ruffian look. ”

“ He made no other sign of controversy, and the man in the hay-field went on.
“I hea' he's goin' to put up a wind mill, back in an open place he's got, and use the powa for tu'nin', if he eva gits it up. But he don't seem to be in any great of a hurry, and they scrape along somehow. Wife takes in sewin' and the girl wo'ked at the Middlemount House last season. Whole fam'ly's got to tu'n in and help s'po't a man that can do everything.”
The farmer appealed with another humorous cast of his eye to Lander ”

“ What is a cow, or a whole herd of cows, as compared with obliging a young lady to offer you money that you hadn’t earned, and then savagely flinging it back in her face? A yoke of oxen would be nothing—or a mad bull.”
He: “Oh, I acknowledge it! I confess it.”
She: “And you own that I am right in refusing to listen to you now?”
He, desolately: “Yes, yes.”
She: “It seems that you gave me lessons in order to be with me, and if possible to interest me in you; and then you were going away without a word.” ”

“ The pale face creased in a faint smile, as if this were a pleasantry. “There’s just a few of the right sort on hand tonight. By the way, what did you get sent out for?”
Setwick frowned his mystification. “Why, to go to school. Dad sent me.”
“But what for? Don’t you know that this is a high-class prison prep? Half of us are lunkheads that need poking along, the other half are fellows who got in scandals somewhere else. Like me.” Again Hoag smiled.
Setwick began to dislike his companion. They rolled a mile or so in silence before Hoag again asked a question:
“Do you go to church, Setwick?” ”

“ A spring, led in pipes from the hill-side, fills it to the brim, with a continual soft bubble in the centre and silent drip of the moisture over the edges to keep fresh the cool, sober green with which in many passing years it has painted the gray stone. Our horse was hired from the Shakers, and was, if one may say it without disrespect, so bigoted a brother himself that he could scarcely be got to drink any water at our farm, but kept his thirst for this fount, which, even when he was not thirsty, he would fondly stop to kiss and loll his great head over. ”

“ Goodwin, and of men like him—if there are such. Old Goodwin's is not a little soul. The first time that I thought on such things and lost myself in thinking, I was using my wheel hoe on the ground between the rows of corn and peas and beans. A wheel hoe is not a thing to lean on, but it fails you when you most need its support, and gives way under you and brings your thoughts to earth with a thump—and you as well, if you are not used to its vagaries and careful. ”