36 AN ISLAND GARDEN 



then, this temper in some plants malicious as 

 it seems, intrusive, at all events, or erring 

 which brings them out of their places, thrusts 

 them where they thwart us and offend ? " This 

 seems to me the best definition of what consti- 

 tutes a weed that I have seen. 



And their strength is mighty, and their name 

 is legion. If there were no other enemies which 

 the gardener must fight, this one of weeds alone 

 is quite enough to tax all his powers and patience. 



Then the plants kill each other if they are left 

 to grow as thickly together as the seeds were 

 sown ; they must be " thinned out " as soon as 

 they have attained to their second leaf, leaving 

 two, three, four, or five inches between each two 

 plants side by side. I always leave two plants 

 where one would be enough, because something 

 is so likely to happen to destroy them, and if 

 there are two the hard fates may perhaps leave 

 one. Some things require much more space 

 than others. Pinks that spire up so thin and tall 

 can be set closer together than Poppies, which 

 spread widely in all directions. This pulling up 

 and throwing away of the superfluous plants is a 

 very difficult thing for me to do. I cannot bear 

 to destroy one of the precious young seedlings 

 that I have watched and tended with such love 

 and care, but it must be done. It is a matter of 

 the very greatest importance. The welfare of the 

 garden depends on it. I comfort myself as best 

 I may by saving all that will bear transplanting, 

 and then giving them away to the flower plots of 

 my fellow-gardeners on neighboring islands. 



