Methods Cultivation at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Cultivation. Cultivation is an ancient vineyard practice. It destroys weeds and facilitates other vineyard operations such as irrigation. Contrary to common belief, cultivation does not conserve soil moisture; however, the resulting destruction of weeds does conserve moisture. Discs or chisel-tooth cultivators are used, although some vineyards are still plowed. Heavy disc harrows are used to turn under weeds and cover crops. Weeds have been and are sometimes controlled with oil sprays or chemicals, usually diuron or monuron.

Olericulture is the branch of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of vegetables of all kinds, for salads or cooking. Ornamental horticulture is concerned with the cultivation of plants for their aesthetic or decorative value and includes annual and perennial plants, shrubs, vines and trees.

Man was able to cope using such simple methods cultivation because population was limited by disease. The great advances in medicine in the nineteenth century led to rapidly increasing populations demanding more and more food. The answer to this problem is the expansion of cultivation, the development of newer and better strains of plants - the so-called "green revolution" - and the introduction of more productive animals.