How to manage a Garden 



more, and should be frequently practised. Whenever the 

 amateur feels a desire for gardening, and knows not what 

 to do if this could ever happen let him take a hoe. It 

 will always do good to stir the soil during favourable 

 weather, and more especially during the summer months. 

 This alone should keep down the weeds, and tend to in- 

 vigorate the crop. 



There are two sorts of hoes : the draw, and the thrust, or 

 dutch hoe. Both are useful in their different spheres. The 

 dutch hoe is especially useful for light soils and where the 

 weeds are of a shallow-rooting nature. It is also useful for 

 cleaning and turning .over walks, although for ridding walks 

 of weeds there can be nothing better than the use of a good 

 weed-killer. Where this is not possible, use salt, which 

 certainly saves labour, though not to so large an extent as does 

 a really good weed-killer. A hoe, be it a dutch or a draw 

 hoe, will quickly wear out if used on a gravel path. A heavy 

 soil is better worked with a draw hoe, as a little experience 

 will show. It will be noted that a heavy soil cannot be 

 brought to so fine a tilth as a lighter soil, and must there- 

 fore require a hoe with a deeper blade. There are also 

 triangular hoes, but they are not so often seen as the two 

 just mentioned. As long as it is possible to get among the 

 crops without damaging them, hoeing should be periodically 

 practised whether there be weeds to skim off or not. Get 

 well below the weeds so that they may be got up by the 

 roots and not simply cut off by the tops, as is too often done 

 with weeds of a troublesome nature. 



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