OUR MOUNTAIN GARDEN 



manure should have been put two feet 

 below the surface of my bed, and the 

 filling should have been added in alter- 

 nate layers of soil, manure, wood-ashes, 

 et cetera. I had neither the manure nor 

 the et cetera to use in that reckless style, 

 but I forked in as much wood-ashes as 

 I dared, and all the pine needles and 

 autumn leaves I could collect from under 

 the nearest trees, and in a twelvemonth 

 more discovered that I had found out a 

 very important point in regard to pre- 

 paring the soil in such localities as mine. 

 Dry, barren sand was not the stuff to 

 lighten our soil with, save hi very smallest 

 quantities, but vegetable matter was. 

 Leaves, pine needles, lawn clippings, old 

 sods, anything and everything of a 

 vegetable character, forked into the soil 

 thoroughly, will give the texture all 

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