282 PRIZE GARDENING 



and plow my garden in the fall. I think it is much 

 better here, as one is apt to plow it when it is too wet 

 if left until spring, and this makes it bake hard and 

 work up lumpy all summer. We can plant vegetables 

 quite a little earlier, too, and this alone is a sufficient 

 reason for plowing it in the fall. — [John Tye, 

 Minnesota. 



I have gardened fifteen years, but never had a 

 garden so good as the one I had this year. By putting 

 in the seed with a drill, I got all the seed in the ground 

 and covered properly; every row straight and just as I 

 wanted it. I can cultivate with a wheel hoe just as 

 fast as I can walk over the ground. — [Mrs. Lizzie 

 Snyder, Oklahoma. 



I make a point of going over it with either hoe or 

 rake after every shower, otherwise it forms a crust and 

 dries fast. July 22 it is absolutely free from weeds, I 

 believe not one on the plot. Perhaps it would be better 

 if there were more, then I should have to hoe it oftener. 

 — [W. S. Newcomb, Vermont. 



My garden has been the freest of weeds of any field 

 I ever cultivated in the twenty-five years I have farmed 

 it here, proving to my mind that our weed seeds are 

 grown and sown every year. To test this point still 

 further, on September 9 I took a basket, went in and 

 pulled up every weed and bit of grass I could find and 

 carried them outside the field. I put in five hours and 

 was surprised to find so many varieties in such a small 

 bulk of weeds. I noted the name of every one I knew 

 and found thirty-four varieties. Who can tell us how 

 many kinds of weeds can be counted on an ordinary 

 farm? — [W. D. Hinds, Massachusetts. 



In summing up I would say, and urge the im- 

 portance of it, keep the garden free from weeds. Do 

 not try to do too much. The greatest mistake I have 

 made in my gardening has been in trying to do too 



