THE GARDEN 



it does very little good. There must be enough 

 to penetrate the soil to a depth sufficient to 

 reach the feeding roots. 



Most young gardeners labor under the im- 

 pression that stirring the soil in a time of 

 drouth is not the proper thing to do. But it 

 is the very thing that needs doing. Leave the 

 soil unstirred, and it soon crusts over in such a 

 manner that moisture from dews and ordinary 

 rains cannot penetrate it. But stir it enough 

 to make its surface light, and keep it in that 

 condition, and it takes on a porosity which 

 enables it to absorb whatever moisture there is, 

 precisely as a sponge does. 



While most of the work of pulling weeds 

 ends with June, it will be necessary to continue 

 the warfare against them, to a greater or less 

 extent, throughout the season. Weeds are 

 aggressive and determined, and they never 

 give up their efforts to secure a foothold in the 

 garden. You may congratulate yourself to- 

 day that the last of them has been uprooted, 

 but to-morrow you will discover others grow- 

 ing in nooks and corners where they had hoped 

 to escape detection. Allow a few of them to 

 grow undisturbed for a week or a fortnight, 

 and they will develop seed enough to fill your 



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