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to the plants. This holds good in all horse-hoeing 

 and grubbing work. No work is more valuable than 

 the thorough stirring and lightening of the soil during 

 the early stages of the crop's growth. 



The hand-hoe should be set to work as soon as cir- 

 cumstances permit. This is particularly necessary with 

 such varieties as those which form tubers early in their 

 growth. This affects all Early varieties, such as 

 Ashleaf, Hebrons, Puritans, Sharpe's Victor, and many 

 others, as if weeds once make a strong growth the 

 crop suffers. The necessity of guarding against a 

 check in the growth of any early variety cannot be too 

 strongly urged. The period of growth is short, and 

 any hindrance causes a loss of yield and quality. 

 Weeds must be kept in check, and the proper time to 

 effect this is when they are young and tender. 



Moulding-up. 



Moul ding-up must be done in good time. In 

 gardens it is usual to mould-up on more than one 

 occasion. A slight moulding is given when the plants 

 are about six inches high, and the final moulding is 

 done as soon as the plants are large enough for a full- 

 sized ridge, in accordance with the space from row to 

 row, to be formed. The hoe is most commonly used 

 for this. An ordinary swan-necked hoe with a ten- 

 inch blade is as serviceable as anything, though 

 occasionally the triangular hoe is used. 



In field cultivation the moulding is generally 

 performed at one operation. The double-breasted 



