Weeding by Hand. 141 



difficulty will be found in adhering to it ; that is to 

 say, on forest clearings, where the soil is not 

 naturally sown with grass, and produces only " sow- 

 thistle," " goat-weed," and other tall plants. The 

 labourer may be provided with a pointed stick or 

 a small bit of hoop, to help him in eradicating 

 obstinate roots, while a small sack should be tied 

 round the waist, into which he can stuff everything 

 he gets hold of, especially everything that is in 

 flower or running to seed. The contents of these 

 sacks may be emptied into receiving pits dug at 

 convenient distances, or on the road being in the 

 latter case at once destroyed by fire. By religiously 

 adhering to this method the planter is enabled to 

 avoid all unnecessary disturbance of the surface 

 soil, a faithful promoter of wash. This, it will be 

 evident, is most of all to be considered on steep 

 slopes. 



If the weeds have once been allowed to get the 

 upper hand, however, this prudent and efficient 

 method will become less and less practicable, and 

 as soon as the ground has become sown, and small 

 weedlings begin to spring up close together over 

 the surface, the scraper comes into requisition. 

 The weeds are too minute and too numerous for 

 eradication by hand, and the only alternative is to 

 scrape them out wholesale. The great objection 

 to this is, that you not only scrape away the weeds 



