PROTECTION FROM FROST. 



91 



duce a crop. Do not be afraid of cutting off the roots of 

 your plants and killing them by digging. In very dry 

 weather you need hoe but one side of your plants the same 

 day. For every fibre you cut off, two fresh ones will 

 start, and the next day or two after you may hoe the 

 other side of the row with safety. 



The ground should be hoed deeply; corn, unless it is 

 ploughed between, will produce hardly anything, and the 

 great secret of raising good cabbage is deep digging be- 

 tween them, while the dew is on. *' The best protection, 

 says Cobbett, " against frequent droughts is frequent 

 digging." Above all, cut up every weed that appears. 

 " One year's seeding makes seven years' weeding." The 

 only use of weeds is to make a necessity of tilling the 

 ground more frequently. Weeds will come up in spite of 

 all our care, but much can be done to prevent them. 

 Their seeds are brought in with the manure. On this 

 account guano is preferable to any other application, as it 

 is perfectly clear of them. They are brought in also by 

 the wind, and they are dug up from beneath and start 

 into vegetation at once, though they have been torpid for 

 years. As soon as one appears above the ground, dig it 

 up at once. If they have already gone to seed, mix the 

 salt and lime mixture with them, and their vegetating 

 power will be destroyed, and these robbers of the soil con- 

 verted into valuable fertilizers. 



Protection from Frost. — Camellias and many half- 

 hardy plants may be protected by laying straw and litter 

 about the roots, as the severest frost will penetrate but a 

 few inches. Very few half-hardy plants will be seriously 

 injured if their roots are covered a few inches deep with 

 straw or leaves. Garden pots, empty boxes, barrels, &c., 



