190 ■loarnal of Agriculture. Victoria. \ 11 Makch. 1918. 



Seeds which are shed in one year, do not always germinate the following 

 season — some may be buried too deep, or where the conditions are other- 

 wise unfavorable, but they retain their vitality for a long while, and 

 will germinate so soon as they are brought near the surface again, or 

 when the conditions become favorable. For this reason it is always well 

 to prepare land for a crop early enough to allow a short fallow before 

 the seed is sown or the seedlings planted out; the weed seeds brought into 

 favorable surroundings then have time to germinate, and can be killed 

 off by shallow, surface cultivation before the growth of the vegetables 

 makes the destruction of the weeds more difficult. The practice will be 

 found to materially reduce labour during the early growth of the crop. 



Some crops, such as cari'ots, parsnips, &c., require a good deal of 

 hand-weeding, but in most cases the cultivation between the rows can be 

 done with a hand cultivator, which is much quicker than hand-hoeing. 

 For other crops, which have more space between the plants in the rows, 

 the weeding can be done by using small-pointed hoes. Weeding between 

 plants should be done before the cultivation between the rows, so that 

 the latter operation may loosen the soil that has been compacted by the 

 tramping to and fro, though where weeds have become numerous the 

 amount of hand-work can be considerably reduced by running the culti- 

 vator- or hoe along between the rows before hand-weeding between the 

 plants themselves is attempted ; in the last case it will often be advisable 

 to disturb the surface between the rows a second time after the hand- 

 weeding is done. The best results from weeding are obtained by doing 

 the work on hot sunny days. Most weeds are killed by cutting them off 

 just under the surface of the soil, but to thoroughly eradicate some — 

 couch grass and sorrel^ for instance — it is necessary to remove every 

 underground particle, or to cultivate persistently and repeatedly until 

 the roots die of exhaustion. iSTut-grass can only be controlled by frequent 

 cultivation. 



Where irrigation is practised the drains and channels should be kept 

 free from weeds, otherwise the seeds will fall into the water and be dis- 

 tributed over the whole area irrigated. 



The greatest trouble from weed-growth is experienced on the coastal 

 areas of the State, where the conditions are conducive to rapid growth — 

 conditions, by the way, that are also most favorable for early crops and 

 for the service of the metropolitan market. 



