PREPARING THE SOIL 39 



practised where the area of land under cultivation is not 

 great. 



5. Judicious cutting with spade, hoe, or scythe will 

 destroy all weeds, but ill-timed cutting only encourages 

 what it is desired to suppress. Many weeds when cut 

 near the ground send up new stems, and these are pro- 

 duced at the expense of food stored below the ground 

 in the previous season. The growth of these secondary 

 stems weakens the plant as a whole, and if, when pro- 

 duced, they are immediately cut off, and the process 

 repeated, total destruction will be the result, no matter 

 what the plant may be. 



The first cutting should be early in the year, and as 

 often after that, throughout the summer, as new shoots 

 appear. If left too long they may either seed, or again 

 store up food in the roots in preparation for the next 

 season's growth. One cutting in the case of perennials 

 is quite valueless. 



