210 Gardening 
Then make a good mulch on the surface of one, leaving the other 
as it is. Now weigh each accurately, recording the weights. 
After about a week weigh each again, and compare the weights 
with first weighing. Which has lost more in weight? Why? 
2. To determine the best time for pulling large weeds. Two boys 
started a garden together in the spring. They kept it in good 
condition, but went to the seashore during July. When they 
returned, they found many large weeds shading and crowding the 
vegetables. One boy said: ‘“‘Let’s take out the weeds right 
away. They’re shading the vegetables and taking the water 
from them.” “No,” said the other, “that will not do at all. 
The weather’s hot and dry, and if we pull the weeds now we'll 
break the roots of the vegetables all to pieces and they’ll wilt 
for lack of water. We must wait till it rains.” They consulted 
a gardener, who advised them to cut the weeds off and cultivate 
with a hoe but not to pull them during dry weather. Who do 
you think was right ? 
Plant three hills of bush beans with four plants close together in 
each hill. After they are well grown, try thinning to one plant in a 
hill by each of the above methods, studying the results in each case. 
3. To show the effects of thinning. When you plant your 
radishes, plant 3 feet of the row very thickly, and do not thin. 
Plant and thin the rest of the row according to directions. When 
the radishes are ready to gather, pull up the crowded plants and 
also a yard of the row that has been thinned. Count the number 
of edible radishes in each lot and compare. From this experiment, 
would you say that thick planting gives greater or less yield to 
a given space? Observe the gardens in your neighborhood and 
determine whether too wide spacing or crowding of vegetables is 
the more common. 
