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first weeding with the fingers. This is hand-and-knee work 

 and, pursued as it has to be in this position at intervals through- 

 out the heat of summer, it is to many the most wearying work 

 of the farm. Boys being more nimble fingered than men, 

 besides working for lower wages, there is a great saving in 

 employing them r provided they can be relied 0:1 to pull up the 

 roots of the weeds. When several are at work it will be wise 

 to have a man with them. 



To protect the knees from sharp stones, ''pads" are used, 

 which consist of squares of about eight inches, of several 

 thicknesses of woolen usually covered with leather, strapped 

 to the knees. In ordinary seasons onions require three or 

 four hand-and-knee weedings, and from four to six slidings. 

 with the hoe. A man's judgment must be his guide. As onions 

 shade the ground but slightly, weeds grow rapidly in onion 

 beds ; and if they are once allowed to get the start, the labor 

 of cultivation is immensely increased. Some cultivators prac- 

 tice scratching the soil away from the onions when weeding, 

 with an old knife curved at a right angle near the point, or by 

 a piece of iron hoop curved, the end being nailed to a small 

 piece of wood conveniently held in the hand. Others prac- 

 tice throwing the soil slightly around the young onions with a 

 scuffle hoe made with reference to this use, with a view of 

 smothering the small weeds. Noyes' hand weeder will be found 

 a very handy little implement for removing weeds, particularly 



when the surface of 

 the ground is some- 

 what hard. When the 

 onions have begun to 

 "bottom down," i. c. form their bulbs, it is the general prac- 

 tice to remove as far as practicable any surplus earth that has 

 accumulated around them. In weeding, two or three rows are 



