i might have missed it are you talking about ed rosenthals growers handbook or another book? i've got that on my kindle been meaning to give it a read.He says because it's habit and ritual. In the 20th century due to prohibition growers used the method to avoid getting getting caught. Since now it's legalized, for some of us they've developed better ways to go about it. I'm at work now, when I get back to the house, I can grab the book and give you better information from it. That's just the little I remember reading.