WEEDS AND PESTS AND DISEASES 137 



The Wild Forget-me-not is quite a harmless, pretty little 

 blue flowered weed. It is easily got rid of. The danger 

 lies in its seeds, so that the plants must be got up before 

 they ripen. Flowerless plants make good vegetable 

 humus. 



There are a host of other weeds common to gardens. 

 It is desirable to observe carefully the chief characteristics 

 of all weeds and plants pulled up, and in the early part of 

 the season care must be taken not to remove plants in the 

 herbaceous border one does not recognise as weeds. 



How to Keep Down Weeds : The old proverb, " A stitch 

 in time saves nine," may well be varied to read " A hoe 

 in time saves ninety," so far as it applies to weeding. If 

 once a crop of seeds is allowed to ripen and fall, there is 

 nothing for it but to hoe the ground over throughout the 

 whole season. But one single timely hoeing may save 

 nearly all of this. 



In a garden which has " gone to seed," it is always a 

 long and hard fight to keep down the weeds which spring 

 up on the ground. But there is absolutely no better 

 way than repeated hoeing with a Dutch hoe. And hoe 

 every day when by accident you have let any weeds seed. 

 Never let the surface of the soil become solid, or they will 

 soon spring up. 



The weeds hoed up should be raked off at once. Those 

 not possessed of tap-roots like the dandelion, or under- 

 ground stems such as the coltsfoot, and those not in flower 

 or seeding, may be used for making vegetable humus. 



To keep down or kill weeds on ash or gravel paths, 

 ordinary common salt may be lightly scattered over the 

 surface ; this should be done on a hot and dry summer 

 day, and repeated a week later if needed. 



Eradication of Weeds : The eradication of weeds is a 

 far more difficult task than merely keeping them down, 

 and often involves a great deal of labour. 



Take, for instance, the garden " gone to seed." The 

 ground may have a few Lupins, Lychnises, Chrysanthemum 

 maximum, and Michaelmas Daisies in it, but it is prac- 



