On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:03:15 GMT, Fred wrote:

The allotment chairman suggested I use a paraffin burner to clear the
allotment. What is one of those? I saw a couple of other allotment
people carrying parasene weed wands; do you think he meant this and I
misheard him?

A weed wand might be a bit small, though I've only seen gas ones of them
rather than parrafin. Bit like a walking stick with a gas cannister at the
handle end a flame the other. I wouldn't want to tackle an area the size
of an allotment with one but a bigger beasty is another matter.

How good are they? I thought they had poor reviews on this group? What
do you do with them, just scorch the weeds and dig them up a week later?

They are very effective, you just need to play the flame over the top
growth, no need to create visible damage or burning. The next day it will
be very apparent that the growth has been scorched enough not to be of any
use to the plant any more. B-)

Dig up/in depending on the weed. Some may beed repeated treatments but a
small gas weed wand keeps out french drains fairly clear of Dandelions
used once or twice/year.

--
Cheers
Dave.