WEEDING. 



75 



lowing manlier. Raise a circular mound of earth 

 three or four inches high all round the stool. Bend 

 down the branches or shoots, till they come in con- 

 tact with this mound, and fix them with hooked 

 pegs of wood made for the purpose, so firmly that 

 their extremities may assume a nearly vertical 

 position. Cover them with earth at the place 

 where they are fixed with the peg, and press it 

 firmly down. They will require no more trouble, 

 till they are rooted and fit to be separated from the 

 parent plants, except being kept free from weeds. 



WEEDING. 



This must be sedulously attended to in the nur- 

 sery, otherwise every other labour will be in vain. 

 The weeding of seedlings, especially of firs, requires 

 considerable attention. A careless hand will pull 

 up thousands of the plants along wdth the weeds, in 

 the course of a single day's labour. The latter should 

 be taken when very young, otherwise it will be im- 

 possible for the most experienced person to pull 

 them out, without doing mischief : Whoever is em- 

 ployed in this work must sit or kneel in the alleys^ 

 without leaning on the bed with his hands, or other- 



