406 
FAMILIAR LESSONS ON PRACTICAL GARDENING. 
which to sow or plant, earthing up the crops, 
&c. When, through neglect, weeds are al- 
lowed to grow up, hoeing must be had recourse 
to as a means of destroying them. The Dutch 
hoe is preferable for stirring the soil among 
growing crops, as the operator, walking back- 
wards, leaves no consolidated footmarks. A 
modification of it, made with flat prongs in- 
stead of the cutting-blade,- is even still better 
for this one purpose, but is not so generally 
useful. 
The operation of raking need only be per- 
formed when it is required to prepare a fine 
surface for sowing small seeds ; or when seeds 
broadcast sown are required to be thus co- 
vered. Sometimes where neatness is an object, 
weeds and rubbish may be got together by it. 
In the two former cases, the surface is to be 
worked backwards and forwards with 
the teeth of the rake, but little, if any- 
thing, being raked off; in the latter 
case, stones, weeds, and litter are re- 
moved, but as free from soil as possible, 
all the larger lumps being broken with 
the back of the rake in the course of 
the operation. 
WALK-MAKING. 
As conducive to cleanliness and neat- 
ness in a garden, dry, solid walks should 
be provided. Good, dry walks may be 
formed thus : Dig out the soil eight or 
ten inches deep, and distribute it over 
the cultivated parts ; make the bottom 
sloping to the centre, and there form a 
drain or gutter, which should commu- 
nicate with some of the main-drains of 
the place. Fill up six inches of this 
with the roughest hard material at 
hand ; either brick rubbish, broken 
crocks, rough stones, &c. will do; make 
up the centre rather highest with these mate- 
rials ; on this, place two or three inches of 
fine hard material, of which broken gravel 
stones, crocks, or clinkers are among the best, 
and old mortar, chalk, or any limy substance 
the worst ; over this a thin layer of fine coal 
ashes, or of coarse sand, or of gravel, if at- 
tainable, should be spread, and pressed down 
firm. This will form a smooth, dry, service- 
able walk, passable in wet weather and after 
frost, if the materials are of good quality. 
The surface should be slightly rounded, and 
made firm and smooth. The arrangement of 
the materials, 
H &c. will be 
understood 
from the ac- 
companying section. Walks are the better for 
having some defined edging ; otherwise the 
soil will be found to be constantly rolling over 
on to the walks ; rendering them dirty and 
unpleasant to walk on when wet. Boards or 
stones, or stout billet-wood, cut into short 
lengths and driven in thickly by the side of 
the walk, would each form a good, serviceable 
kind of edging. A row of some of the smaller 
cultivated plants or herbs may be sometimes 
adopted as an edging ; but, for neatness, 
nothing is equal to a narrow line of the dwarf 
evergreen box-tree, known as the Dutch box. 
"WEEDING. 
Weeds are injurious in a garden in two 
ways. In the first place, they take up from 
the soil the nutriment which maintains their 
existence, and thus rob the cultivated crop of 
a share of what should be solely devoted to 
its use ; and secondly, they crowd and choke 
the plants, especially when they get the upper 
hand among small seedlings, and thus prevent 
them from attaining their full perfection. The 
injury done in both these ways, where weeds 
are allowed to grow unmolested, is immense ; 
and scarcely less so, if they are allowed to 
grow almost or quite to maturity before they 
are displaced. The frequent stirring up of 
the surface by means of the hoe, which is 
much to be recommended for the advancement 
of all cultivated crops, is instrumental in 
keeping down weeds, vast numbers being 
killed while in the infant state; but there are 
always some patches of ground that are liable 
to escape this attention, and in these places 
the weeds are prone to establish themselves, 
and from thence scatter their seeds around. 
Large weeds are often allowed to run up to 
seed in the hedges, and from thence their 
seeds get distributed by the wind, by animals, 
and by other means. A very little neglect in 
the destruction of weeds large enough to 
have run up to seed, produces a great deal of 
trouble to destroy their progeny. The prin- 
ciple to be acted on is, never to let a single 
weed go to seed ; and, if possible, destroy 
them all as soon as they are sprung up. 
The hoe is the proper implement with 
which to destroy the weeds which occur in 
the open parts of the garden, among the per- 
manent crops. From amongst seedling plants, 
yet in an infant stage, and yet remaining in 
the seed-bed, it is necessary to remove the 
weeds by hand, and so also where the plants 
are not growing at sufficient distance to admit 
of the hoe being used. Small hoes are, how- 
ever, made, which answer nearly every pur- 
pose, so that hand-weeding may be almost 
entirely confined to seed-beds. Dry weather 
is the most favourable for the destruction of 
weeds, by whatever process is adopted, as 
they perish immediately ; in moist, dull wea- 
ther, many of the kinds tenacious of life are 
apt to strike fresh roots. 
In the case of almost every kind of garden 
