Possibility of Destroying Weeds. 35 



Some of the statements in the quotation 

 just given may appear extravagant, even 

 to practical men. The idea of bringing 

 farms into a clean condition and then keep- 

 ing them so seems to be entertained by so 

 small a number that those who advocate 

 such views will be looked upon by many as 

 enthusiasts. The writer feels free to say, 

 however, that this opinion is not the view 

 of a mere enthusiast, and no man should 

 regard it as such until he has first honestly 

 made the attempt to clean his own farm on 

 the lines laid down in this book, and found 

 that he cannot profitably do so. This opin- 

 ion, it may be added, is sustained by the 

 experience of 1892 in the management of 

 the Ontario Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion at Guelph. An accurate account was 

 kept of the time spent in hand spudding 

 that year. It amounted to 512 hours, 

 which, at $1.25 per day of ten hours, cost, 

 but $64.00, a sum considerably less than 

 $25.00 per 100 acres. And this cost includes 

 the entire work done in the way indicated 

 on ''private roads, fence borders, unbroken 

 pastures, and by-places," in addition to that 

 expended on the cultivable portions. 



