18 GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES 



time. When the grass is of the couch or twitch variety 

 a good deal of trouble may be anticipated unless the 

 creeping roots be skimmed off the surface and buried 

 two feet or more down or thrown on a bonfire and burnt. 

 The latter plan is the better, though more tedious, as the 

 ashes from the fire provide a valuable potash of which the 

 country is now very short. Rank weeds, such as 

 thistles and docks, should be dug out with as much of 

 their roots as possible ; it will be a false economy of 

 time to snap off the heads and leave the roots to continue 

 growing. 



Now as to the soil. Where such is possible, itjwill be 

 an admirable plan to dig two or three holes about three 

 feet deep, in various parts of the holding. By inspecting 

 the sides of the holes, we may learn the depth of the top 

 spit, the composition of the under layers, and, if we leave 

 the holes open for a day or more carefully covered over 

 at nights, of course we may get to know whether 

 drainage is good or bad. 



Black soil is usually considered of great merit, the 

 reason being that it contains a high percentage of humus, 

 a vegetable constituent of the soil which, by a gradual 

 process of decay, liberates carbonic acid and so manu- 

 factures a necessary ingredient of plant food. Humus, 

 it may be said, is generated by returning to the soil all 

 kinds of vegetable refuse and by supplying dressings of 

 stable manure. Black soils, also, are the warmest as 

 they absorb the rays of the sun and so retain heat. 



Red soil is chiefly due to the presence of iron in one or 

 other of its forms. When the texture of the ground is 

 good, the iron compounds will serve to keep the soil 



