86 A Little Maryland Garden 
weeds impudent, but ‘‘sly, sir, devilish sly!” 
Not content with growing and blooming all 
over the lawn, they must also insinuate them- 
selves into the embraces of one’s best plants, 
placing themselves with such cleverness 
in the heart of them and coming out with 
such precision from the very centre, as it 
were, of their roots, that it is impossible 
to destroy one without injuring the other. 
A superficial tug that only tears away the 
flowers and leaves is the worst injury that 
can be done to the dandelion thus intrenched, 
and this is only parleying with the enemy. 
For this intruder always has a reserve of buds 
under the ground, down in its roots, that no 
surface punishment can touch, and cutting 
them through with a knife below the soil is 
the only security against a fresh crop of 
gay blossoms. 
And yet, after a vigorous onslaught on the 
legions on the lawn, I am reminded of the 
Scripture tale of a room that was emptied 
of its devil, and swept and garnished, only 
to make it ready for seven other devils to 
