HOL
HOARSENESS, {Cycl.) to medicine. See the article Rau-
CEDO.
HOASTMEN, an antient fraternity of dealers in fea coal, at
Newcaftle upon Tine. Vid. 21 Jac. 1. c. 3. Blount. HOBBY, {Cycl.) in zoology, the Englifh name of a hawk, of the long-winged kind, called, by many authors, by the name fubbuteo, the name by which others exprefs the ringtail and hen-harrier. The Hobby has a prominent and crooked beak, covered at the bafe with a yellow ikin, the beak is white near this membrane ; elfewhere it is blue. Its tongue is a little bifid, and the iris of its eyes hazel-colour 'd. It has a reddifh brown line, mixed with white over the eyes, and its head feathers are black and brown ; its neck feathers are of a whitifh brown ; its back and wings are of a blackifh grey ; its chin, and the upper part of its throat, are of a yellowifh white, with a black fpot on each fide ; its belly is brown ; its tail is long, and pointed and variegated with brown and white. The legs and feet are yellow. It builds with us in high trees, but does not fray the winter with us ; it feeds principally upon larks. See Tab. of Birds, N°. 3. and Ray's Ornithology, p. 49. HOCIAMSANUM, in botany, a name given by fome writers
to agrimony. See the article Agrimony. HOCUB, in botany, a name given by Vaillant to a genus of plants, called by Tournefort, and other authors, gundelia. Seethe article Gundelia. HODENSTEIN, in natural hiftory, a name given by the Germans to the ftone ufually called by authors enonhis. It is a kind of xtites, or eagle-ffone ; but the internal nucleus is not loofe, but fixed to one fide. HODOMETRICAL Method of finding the Longitude at fea, is that of the computation of the meafure of the way of a fhip between place and place, t. e. of obferving the feveral rhumbs or lines in which the (hip fails, and what way fhe has made, or how many leagues, and parts of a league, fhe has run. This method is liable to great errors. HOG, in zoology. See the article Sus.
The dung of Hogs is one of the richeft manures we are acquainted with j it feems to come next in value after iheep's dung, and is found to be equal in virtue to twice the quantity of any other dung except this. The antients feem to have been difpleafed with it, on account of its breeding weeds, as they exprefs it ; but this is only accufing it of being too rich, for any dung will do this, when laid too thick. It is an excellent manure for pafture grounds, and excels all other kinds of dung for trees. The farmers who ufe the dung for their lands, generally take care to fave it, by well paving the ftyes, and encreafe the quantity by throwing in bean-ftalks, ftubble, and many other things of a like kind i and, by good management of this kind, many farmers have procured fifty or fixty load of excellent manure a year, out of a frnall five. The very beft way of ufing this dung, is to mix it with horfe-dung, and, for this reafon, it is beft to have the ftye near the (table, that the two cleanfmgs may be mixed in one heap, and ufed together.
They have, in many parts of Staffordfhire, a poor light fhal- low land, on which they fuw a kind of white pea. The land is neither able to bear this, nor any thing elfe to advantage, for their reaping. But when the peafe are ripe, they turn in as many Hogs as the quantity of peafe will fatten, fuffering them to live at large and remain there day and night ; and, in con- fequence of this, the land will produce good crops of hay for feveral years afterwards, or, if too poor for that, it will, at worft, raifc g»'afs enough to make it a good pafture ground. HOGI, in the eaftern churches, as at Cairo, is an under-at- tendant on the mofque, who is the reader under the fheik. Pocock's Egypt, p. 171. HOEING, according to Tull, is the breaking or dividing the foil by tillage, while the corn, or other plants, arc growing thereon. It differs from common tillage, which is always performed before the corn or plants are fown or planted, in the time of performing it ; and it is much more beneficial to the crops than any other tillage. This fort of tillage is per- formed various ways, and by means of different uvftruments. Land which, before the tilling, would have yielded little, tho 5 the more it is tilled before fowing, the more plenty of crop it yields, yet, if tilled only before the fowing, will al- ways have fome weeds, and they will partake of the advan- tage of the tillage as well as the corn. This is one reafon for an after tillage, fuch as that by Hoeing. But there is another confederation that yet more requires it ; this is, that as foon as the ploughman has done his buiinefs, by plowing and harrow- ing the land, after fowing, the foil, of its own accord, be- gins to undo it all again, by tending towards its original tex- ture and fpecific gravity again ; the altering of which was the only bufmefs of all the former tillage. The breaking the par- ticles of the earth, and making in it new pores, and new par- ticles or new fupcrficies, is the great buiinefs of the plow and harrow ; but as foon as their ufe is over, the earth begins to coalefce again into its own form, the particles unite together, and the artificial pores in a great meafure clofe up. The feed is nourifhed in a worfe ground than it was firft put into, and the more the plant grows up, and requires a larger fupply of food, the worfe the pafture becomes. While nourifhment is thus denied the growing plants, they are at the fame time choaked with weeds, which being of a hardier nature than
HOL
they, will g^ w j tri i e f s f upp lj es? za & therefore thrive more vigoroufly, and rob them of a great part of the little food the land before allowed them. Tult's Horfehocing Hus- bandry, p. 27.
farmers in all ages have been acquainted, in fome decree, with the ufe of tillage and dung to crops of ufeful plants, b*t they have fo ill managed the time of giving thefe affiftances to nature, that there is no doubt but one third part of the nou- rifhment raifed by dung and tillage, if it were given to plants and corn at many proper feafons, and proportioned to the dif- ferent times of their exigencies, would be of more benefit to the crop, than the whole is, when applied all together at the time of fowing.
Nature, by what fhe does in the animal ceconomy, feems to point out to us fomcthing like the remedying this by Hoeing ; for when the teeth, as the plough, have tilled that foil or mafs which is earth altered ; and when the faliva and the juices of the ftomach have ferved to divide and attenuate it, as the falts of dung and other manure do land ; after all this, the bile and pancreatic juices are ordain'd to farther attenuate it, at the very time when it is ready to be exhaufted by the nume- rous mouths of the la&eals, fituate in the inteftines. This laft operation of thefe juices feems analogous to the meliorat- ing the foil by Hoeing, after the plants are grown, and are becoming fit for ufe.
Tranfplanting is nearly allied in its nature to Hoeing, but it is much inferior. The nature of this will not admit of its being a general thing ; and even if it would, Hoeing is better : For, by tranfplanting, the plants can only be kept up to a certain period, after which they will not bear it ; but Hoeing may be ufed to them with advantage, to their utmoft ftanding, and makes them vigorous all the while.
The roots of a plant are all ncceuarily broken off in tranf- planting, and it requires fome time for it to ftrike a whole fet of new ones ; and if the earth about it is not kept thoroughly moiftencd all this time,, the new formed roots will not be able tofhoot, and the plant will ftarve in the midft of plenty. But, on the contrary, in Hoeing, the fame advantage of a new pafture for theplant isobtained, by the breaking the pamcles of the earth, and at the fame time no more of the roots are broken off than can eafily be fupplied, and the reft remaining in their places, the plant continues growing without that ftop and decay, which muft happen on tranfplanting, and which it recovers only by degrees. It is obferved, that fome plants are the. worfe for tranfplanting : Lucerne and faintfoin are never fo good after tranfplanting, as when they are left in their native places, at the fame diftances ; and finochia removed, is never fo good and tender as when it is not. This laft plant receives fuch a check from tranfplanting in its infancy, that it has afterwards a difeafe like the rickets, which caufes knots and fvvcllings in it, that fpoil it as a delicacy. All the top-rooted plants fuffer by tranfplanting, for it is neceflary ia this to cut off the main long root, which afterwards, how- ever good the foil may be, never arrives at the length it otherwife would have had, and which was 'neceflary for the fuccefs of the plant.
One great benefit of Hoeing is, that it keeps plants-moift in dry weather, the advantage of which to their growth is eafily fcen. 1 his good office it performs on a double account. Firft, as they are better nourifhed by Hoeing, they require lefs moifture, and confequently carry off lefs ; for thofe plants which receive the greateft encreafe, having moft terreftrial nourifhment, carry of the leaft water, in proportion to their augment, as is proved by Woodward's experiments. Thus barley or oats being fown on a piece of ground, well divided by tillage and dung, will enme up and grow well without rains, when the fame grains fown on another part of the fame land, not thus dunged or tilled, will fcarce come up at all without rains, or if they do, will wait wholly for the rains for their growth and increafe. Tull's Hufbandry, p, 29.
The Hoe alfo, particularly the horfe-i/o--, for the other does not go deep enough, procures moifture for the roots from the dews which fall moft in dry weather; and thefe dews feem to be the moft enriching of all moifture, as it contains in it a fine black earth, which will fubfide from it in ftanding, and, which feems fine enough to be the proper pabulum, or food fur plants.
A demonftration that the tilled earth receives an advantage from thefe dews, which the unfilled docs not, is this : Dig a hole in any piece of land, of fuch a depth as the plough uuialty goes to ; fill this with powdered earth, and after a day or two, examine the place, and the bottom part of this earth, and bottom of the hole, will be found moift, while all the reft of the ground, at the fame depth, is dry. Or if a field be tilled in lands, and one land be made fine by frequent deep ploughings, while another is left rough by infuflicicnt tillage, and the whole field be then ploughed acrofs in the drieft weather, which has continued long, every fine land will be turned up moift, and every rough land as dry as pow- der from top to bottom.
Altho* hard ground, when thoroughly foaked with rain, will, continue wet longer than fine tilled land adjoining to it, yet this water ferves rather to chill than to nourifh the plants ftanding in it, and to keep out the other benefits of the atmof-. pherei it leaves the ground much harder alfo than before,
When
