xvi PREFACE 



common cultural directions. Here let me say that I as- 

 sume that every autumn the ground will be deeply 

 ploughed or dug over, and that in spring it will be put 

 in good surface-condition for sowing. During the grow- 

 ing season I assume that weeds will not be allowed to 

 grow, and that after rains, and between them whenever 

 necessary, the surface of the soil will be stirred 

 with the hoe, rake, or cultivator, to kill the 

 sprouting weeds and to preserve the surface- 

 mulch. 



Fig. 2. Types of wheel-hoes, or hand cultivators. 



This surface-mulch may be defined for the benefit 

 of the beginner as a dust blanket above the moist 

 earth, to prevent its drying out. For it may be broadly 

 said that so long as the ground looks wet it is losing its 

 moisture, while as soon as the surface has been broken 

 and refined to powder the evaporation is stopped. This 

 work is done, on small areas, by the hoe and rake, and 

 on larger areas by the cultivator. The garden must be 

 a small one in which the hand-cultivator, or wheel -hoe, 

 will not soon save its cost in economy of time and 



