nt country-born person would
arrange matters, he senses that the evil moment of going to work can
no longer be put off, he directs his lagging steps to the spot where
the tools are waiting. These he regards with blackest pessimism. His
attitude is that only a city moron would provide such poor things but,
of course, he will do the best he can with them. In the course of the
day he gets a little work done but in such sketchy fashion that most
of it must be done over.

Nor does he improve as the days go by. When you decide to part with
him, probably soon after your first inspection of his work, you will
get a fresh shock at the size of his bill. Such people have an
exaggerated idea of the value of their services. It is difficult to
get them to name a price at the beginning; and in the rare cases where
a set sum is agreed upon, the final reckoning will invariably include
certain extras or a plaint that "the job was different than you
claimed and I don't do heavy work like that for nobody without I get
extra pay and I was just working to accommodate--" and so forth.
Usually you end by paying him and charging it off to experience.

This does not mean that there is no good local labor. It is just a
matter of determining which man is actually "a good worker" and which
would rather lean on a hoe and tell how the country ought to be run.
You can avoid much labor turnover and unsatisfactory work if you first
ask a few questions of substantial members of the countryside who are
in the habit of employing such men and therefore know their good and
bad points. One man may be strong and willing but so stupid and clumsy
that he destroys more than he earns; another may be deft, ingenious,
have an uncanny way with flowers and vegetables, but yet have such an
utter lack of responsibility that one cannot depend on him for any
length of time.

Assuming then that a good, dependable man has been found who
understands and has a liking for the soil, the task of helping nature
to bring out the best in your grounds progresses to those parts
afflicted by such rank weeds as burdocks, thistles, milkweed, poison
ivy and the like. Weeds with the long tap root like burdock and yellow
dock can be eliminated best with a mattock. With one sharp blow, cut
the root two or three inches below the surface. Then pull up the top
and toss it aside where it will wither in the sun. What is left in the
ground also dies and will not sprout. A Canadian thistle is r