S6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



largfe amount of ves^etable matter from the rotten sod, and 

 ■would be iu a better condition to groAv almost any crop from 

 that cause alone. 



The preparation of the soil in the spring for the sowing of 

 the seed for early crops must be attended to as soon as it is 

 dry enough to work ; everything should be ready for use when 

 needed, the manure thrown over and made fine, seed ready, 

 tools in order, teams and men ready to do the work promptly, 

 so that when the proper time comes the manure can be ap- 

 plied, the land ploughed and the lumps broken, the surface 

 made fine, and the seed sown before the land has become too 

 dry for the seed to germinate. All garden plants are better 

 for being hoed as soon as they are to be seen coming up 

 through the soil ; this, followed by frequent stirring keeps 

 the surface in condition to get the full benefit of the sun, air 

 and moisture, and causes plants to develop and grow much 

 faster than they otherwise would ; it also keeps down weeds. 

 Weeds should never be allowed to make any headway. 

 Stirring the soil about the plants on a hot day is one of the 

 readiest means for their destruction, and at the same time it 

 is beneficial to plant growth. Pure seed is even of more im- 

 portance to the market gardener than to the farmer, while it is 

 very important to both. The one grows crops for feeding to 

 stock, the other to be sold in the market ; a certain degree 

 of coarseness may be allowed in the one case, but fine, 

 smooth products become a necessity in the other. This can 

 only be attained by using well-bred seed of the very best 

 varieties, fixed in their habits by careful selection of speci- 

 mens from which the seed has been grown, and which have 

 been raised at such a distance from other varieties of the 

 same species as to wholly prevent any admixture or crossing 

 of the seed. And the gardener, so far as practicable, had 

 better grow his own seed. When this cannot be done, it 

 should be procured from the most reliable source, remem- 

 bering that the price is but of small importance if it is well- 

 bred, new and fresh: 



As an illustration, take two plats of beets grown along- 

 side of each other, one sown with the best strain of Dew- 

 ing's or some other standard turnip-beet, the other with 

 a mongrel, mixed turnip-beet seed, both being for winter 



