The secret of keeping ahead of weeds is to destroy them when young, to do this again and again, as often as they come up, never allowing them to bear seed. The kodalee, an excellent digging tool, is not good for this: you want a lighter instrument, which can go over more ground and will not open the soil in the dry season to any depth. The Dutch hoe, the widest procurable in the blade, with a long lithe handle of 6 feet, is perfect for this. With weeds at the height fit for a Dutch hoe, viz., 3 or 4 inches, and not numerous (which they will not be if you have “kept ahead”), a man will easily do 45 square nulls, _id est_, 720 square yards. He would not do more than 30 nulls with a kodalee. The Dutch hoe must be well known. It is used for weeding drives and walks in England. To conclude shortly, for “hoeing and weeding” I recommend as follows:-- Dig the whole garden thrice in the year, viz., spring, rains, and autumn. Bury all weeds as you dig in trenches between the lines. In the intervals use the Dutch hoe as often as weeds appear. Cultivate the plants by digging round them once a month if possible. Do all this and you will find your garden is kept clean and well cultivated, at far less cost than you incurred for cultivation when it was choked with weeds for months together, while your yield will be at the same time much increased. If you keep your garden thus clean, and do not allow the weeds to get ahead of you, the following table shows about the cost of each cultivation operation each time you do it:-- Key: A: Digging the whole surface B: Digging round plants C: Dutch hoeing or weeding ----------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+------+------ | Headman | Men at | Women | Boys at |Total |Say in Detail of work | at 4-1/2 | 3-1/2 | at | 2-1/2 |cost | Rs. | annas | annas | 3 annas | annas | | ----------------+ --------+--------+---------+---------+------+------ A | 3/4 | 12 | 5 | .. |2|13|6| 3 B | 1/2 | .. | 4 | 5 |1|13|9| 2 C | 1/2 | 4 | .. | .. |1|14|3| 2 ----------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+------+------ If weeds get ahead the cost in each case will be nearly double the above. The following table, which is as near the mark as any such estimate can be, will be found useful. It will also be made use of when calculating the cost of making a garden in Chapter XXIX., pages 164, 165, and 166. _Table showing the cost per annum of keeping up at its best 100 acres of Tea from the year it is planted until the sixth year inclusive._