CHAPTER XXI 

 THE ERADICATION OF WEEDS 



Hoeing 1 . 



AFTER the weather, there is no subject on which the 

 gardener can wax more indignant than on the subject 

 of weeds. How they come there he cannot tell. That 

 question, of course, does not concern him, except in as 

 much as it reflects on his past relations with the soil. Oft- 

 times a weedy land denotes an indifferent husbandman. 

 Again it gives a sign of latent fertility; a land which 

 would not grow weeds has little chance of producing any- 

 thing more valuable. Before, however, entering on the 

 question of how to get rid of weeds, I would like to suggest 

 that their number might be considerably diminished if 

 timely measures of prevention were taken. Of course, if 

 weeds are allowed to flower and seed before they are pulled 

 up, how will it ever be possible to have a clean garden ? 

 Likewise, if deep-rooting weeds are simply chopped off, 

 their number will grow rather than lessen. Weeds, of 

 course, mean plants in the wrong place. Notwithstanding 

 its great utility, horseradish is to some growers a very 

 troublesome weed. One of the chief methods of dealing 

 with weeds is by hoeing, but it may here be remarked that 

 this is not the only gain derived from hoeing : it loosens 

 the soil, enabling it to receive more moisture, and to retain 

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