PEEPAEING THE SOIL 259 



every now and then a stout weed will need a higher lift 

 and a harder blow. Every little while, as we move forward, 

 we should turn, and with a stroke or two loosen up the soil 

 where we have stood. The straighter we stand, the easier 

 the work is, except that to bend forward a little is natural in 

 hoeing. 



After such work the rake must of course go over the ground. 

 There will be weeds to gather and wheel away, and the whole 

 surface to be fined and leveled. In a large garden the wheel- 

 hoe smooths quickly, after the weeds have been taken away. 



A valuable addition to the home garden is a seed bed, a 

 patch that in many cases need be only a few feet square. 

 Since it is chiefly for the raising of seedlings until they are 

 large enough to be set in the open ground, and since usually 

 only such quick-growing and shallow-rooted plants as lettuce, 

 cress, and radish are allowed to grow to full size in it, the loam 

 need not be more than a few inches deep. But the surface 

 must be extremely fine, and should be carefully worked over 

 with the rake until the very smallest lump is broken. Indeed, 

 .it is quite worth while to sift the upper two inches of the 

 surface through an ash sieve, to make sure that it is fine 

 enough. The lighter and warmer the soil is, the better it will 

 be for the purpose. Any manure that is worked in should be 

 extremely well-rotted. Besides all this, the seed bed should 

 have full sun, and protection from the cold winds. 



One of the most discouraging things is to discover that 

 because of some carelessness or haste in spading, the garden 

 is still full of witch, or quack, or piper grass. This, with 

 its many rootstocks, speedily sprouts and occupies the 

 ground. The best remedy is to spade again, slowly taking out 

 every root. The next is to hoe every few days, cutting every 

 spear that shows itself. After a month the soil will be 

 free of the grass. But in case the garden has been planted, 



