The Care of Growing Crops 



203 



Van Etrie Kilpatrick 



FIG. 119. "Thorough and clean culture is the watchword of the successful 

 gardener." Old Farmer's Almanac 



Weeding. If a garden is properly tilled for maintain- 

 ing the surface mulch, weeds never get large enough to 

 become a menace, at least between the rows. Weeding, 

 therefore, becomes simply the task of pulling by hand 

 the weeds that appear close to the growing plants. Such 

 weeds should be pulled when they are small, before they 

 crowd and shade the growing plants and rob them of water 

 and food materials. If for any reason the weeds do be- 

 come large, special care should be taken in removing them 

 so that the roots of the growing crops are not injured. 

 Weeds of large size may be cut off just below the surface. 



The roots of a weed (or of a vegetable that stands 

 close beside other plants of the crop) are often much en- 

 tangled with the roots of a plant that is near it, and by 



