70 PROTECTION OF WOODLANDS. 



Woody-fibrous shrubs should be hacked or cut through, or even 

 removed altogether from the soil, by means of a hoe or mattock. 

 Cutting should take place in the middle of summer, as at that 

 time the shoots from the stool are not only less in number, but 

 are also more likely to be interfered with in growth by the 

 frosts in autumn and winter, owing to the shoots not ripening 

 properly into hard wood. Blackthorn and hawthorn are apt to 

 give most trouble, both because of their reproductive capacity 

 from the stool, and because of their thorns rendering the task of 

 cutting them more difficult. When thoroughly carried out with 

 heaps of earth not too small in size, the piling up of earth 

 over the stools in spring, immediately after cutting, can often be 

 successfully applied, in the case of shrubs and softwoods, to hinder 

 the development of stool-shoots. 



In seed-beds and nurseries a noxious growth of weeds can best 

 be prevented by a judicious choice of the locality, avoiding places 

 with damp soil, or near areas covered with young crops whence 

 the seeds of the weeds can be wafted by the wind, and choosing, 

 wherever available, old agricultural land free from weeds, by 

 prudence in the application as manure of compost formed by the 

 heaping together of all sorts of garden rubbish, as this often con- 

 tains a large proportion of weeds removed about the time of their 

 seeding, which should only be used after having lain for a long 

 time, and having been turned over frequently, and by covering 

 up the spaces between the rows of seedlings with leaves, moss, or, 

 if the spaces are narrow, with battens or split poles, in order to 

 offer a mechanical hindrance to the growth of weeds. Whatever 

 weeds make their appearance, despite these precautions, should 

 be removed by diligent weeding during damp weather, when they 

 can easily be pulled up with all their roots, so as to prevent their 

 at once sending out fresh shoots. 



B. PARASITIC PLANTS. 



40. Mistletoes, their Crrowth, and Evil Effects. 



There are two parasitic plants belonging to the family of the 

 Loranthacece which are outwardly visible on trees, and especially 

 on a number of forest trees, and which obtain their requirements 



