CHAPTER XXXIX. 



WEEDS IN CALIFORNIA. 



For fear that a book on gardening without a chapter on weeds 

 might prove too great a shock to horticultural propriety, this con- 

 cession is made to conventionality. The fact is that the California 

 gardener gives himself less concern about weeds than the distant 

 reader can perhaps realize. There are several reasons for^ihis. 



First: It is possible to get quite clean ground for winter gar- 

 dening by weed-killing cultivation before planting. This is one ad- 

 vantage of our long planting season. 



Second : Winter gardening is free from many weeds which 

 only grow in high temperatures. 



Third : Owing to the long spring season it is possible to clean 

 with plow and cultivators, the land which is to be planted after 

 frosts are over. 



Fourth: Summer growth of weeds is largely prevented by 

 the dry surface layer of the soil and those which do start are de- 

 stroyed by the persistent summer cultivation which is essential to 

 the preservation of moisture for the crop. 



Fifth: Many of the worst weeds of humid climates can not 

 survive our dry summer in uncultivated soil and are thus prevented 

 from becoming serious pests here because of their own natural 

 limitations. 



And yet we do have weeds, magnificent weeds, weeds which 

 reflect the growth-giving resources of our soil and climate quite as 

 strikingly as do our useful plants. Mustard, turnip and radish 

 extend laterals for the birds of the air to rest upon. Smartweed 

 grows in some places too high for a man to look over; in other 

 places morning-glory, licorice, Bermuda and Johnson grasses have 

 a grip upon the soil which it is almost impossible to loosen. Jimson, 

 dogfennel and others, numerous beyond mention, are found in 

 varying amounts everywhere; but for the season stated above they 

 do not give the gardener such grievance against fate as their names 

 might suggest. On the other hand, Canada thistle and burdock 



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