CHAPTER IV. 



GARDEN TILLAGE. 



By the proper cultivation of the garden we accomplish 

 three things: (1) The weeds are kept out so that they do not 

 shade or take away valuable plant food and moisture from 

 the plants whieh we desire to perfect. (2) The surface soil is 

 brorght into best condition to resist drought that is, into the 

 best condition to avail itself to the utmost of the stores of 

 water in the subsoil and to prevent the evaporation of this 

 water from the surface soil. ( 3 ) The inert plant food in the 

 soil is made soluble by chemical action, which is increased by 

 the cultivation of the soil. 



Prevention and Killing of Weeds. — The methods best adapted 

 for keeping weeds out of the garden are many and varied, and 

 depend much upon the condition and kind of soil in which the 

 weeds grow, upon the kind of crop and the habits of the weed s 

 themselves. The most important step in making easy the pre- 

 vention of weeds in the garden is the harrowing or other 

 thorough cultivation of the land, just before the planting of 

 the seed to kill the young weeds. If this is done thoroughly, 

 the weeds do not have any better chance than the crop. If this 

 is not done, the weeds will be ahead of the crop in growth, 

 and if started ever so little when the crop is planted the result 

 generally is that the crop is seriously overgrown by them before 

 it is large enough to be cultivated. 



When garden seeds that require a long time to germinate 

 are sown, it is an excellent plan to lightly rake over the land 

 with an ordinary fine-toothed rake even before the crop ap- 

 pears above the ground, providing the work is so carefully 

 done as not to disturb the seeds. This is an easy matter in 

 case of the larger garden seeds, while it would be impossible 

 with the finer seeds, as they are invariably planted shallow. 

 When the seed is sown with a drill, the line of the row may be 

 plainly seen even before the plants come up, thus making it 



