LITTLE GARDENS 



mistake, and there, you see. Is another reason for 

 marking the burial-place of the seeds, bulbs, 

 roots and tubers. You will shortly learn to 

 know the ragweed, pigweed, carpetweed, thistle 

 and purslain or " pusley " — if you do not al- 

 ready know them, to your sorrow — and will have 

 at them without mercy. The Spaniards have a 

 wise old saw to the effect that it is never well to 

 work between meals, so I pull my weeds before 

 breakfast — sometimes. At all events, the earth 

 Is so softened by the night dews that these alien 

 growths come out most easily while the soil is 

 yet damp. If the bed is long, you will whip them 

 out with the hoe, but If small, and especially if It 

 Is thickly set with flowering plants, you must 

 bend to your work and displace the Intruders 

 with a long, strong haul. Oh, yes : It's hard to 

 do, when your hands are soft, your cheeks white, 

 and your withers wrung, but there Is a fine sense 

 of brag, which you may speak or not, when you 

 go In, sweaty, grimy, blistered, and you can not 

 count that day lost In which you have tolled with 

 a hoe, a spade, or a lawn-mower, as you may 

 count some days In the hospital or on the stock 

 exchange. 



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