^ GARDEN PNEUMONIA 79 



hinc illes lacrymae that's why you weep in 

 struggling with them. But if you will burden 

 your brain with all the details set forth in this 

 Bulletin you will be able to conquer the octopus. 



Turn the land infested with this pest into 

 meadow or pasture and keep the grass closely 

 cropped, either by grazing animals upon it or 

 by mowing it for one or more seasons. After a 

 year, the land "should be plowed shallow, and 

 the subsequent cultivation should be intelli- 

 gently and efficiently done." But if you let any 

 of the grass go to seed in a fence corner, woe unto 

 you! 



If your garden is too small to be plowed, you 

 may try a method I have found effective. 

 Spread newspapers thickly over the space you 

 wish to rescue and put boards over them. In 

 less than a year the grass underneath will be 

 dead; even witch grass cannot live without 

 air it suffocates. Nor can it live unless some 

 of its blades are allowed to grow undisturbed. 

 If you will, therefore, go over your garden with 

 a sharp hoe once a week and slaughter every 

 blade as soon as it shows itself, you will ulti- 

 mately make the rootstocks, tertiary as well as 

 secondary and primary, curl up and die miser- 

 ably. At least, that joyful tragedy has been 

 triumphantly enacted in my garden. 



