58 GARDENING WITH BRAINS '^ 



In large gardens much time and labor can be 

 saved by adding to your supply of garden tools 

 a wheel hoe. Use it at once to remove the new 

 crop of weeds that comes up after every rain. 

 It has been truly said that, without exaggera- 

 tion, "80 per cent of the work in taking care of 

 gardens is due to the fact that these hoeings 

 and hand weedings are allowed to go for several 

 days after they should have been attended to"; 

 which is simply an illustration of the old adage 

 that a stitch in time saves nine. Gardening 

 with brains saves brawn. 



A hundred or more broad garden sticks, 



eight or ten inches high, for marking your rows 



, of vegetables or flower beds are very desirable; 



' and don't forget to write on each stick with 



i blue pencil the name of each variety and the date 



I of planting it. (The rows should run north to 



I south.) You will also need a number of green 



I stakes five or six feet long for your asparagus 



; plants, if you have any, and for tomato plants, 



\ which you surely will have. In the North, to 



i make sure of timely ripening, tomato plants 



should be a foot tall and starting to blossom 



when you transplant them, and they need a 



stake at once. For tying material I much 



prefer unbleached muslin torn into thin strips 



to twine, which cuts into the stems, or raffia, 



which rots in rainy weather. You will, of 



course, need a garden line or a ball of twine to 



make your rows of vegetables straight. Strag- 



