{i?: TiHE HOME GARDEN 



careful we must be to make a compost heap of all 

 weeds and grass? Well, it will help lots if you are 

 going to use a summer mulch. 



Have you ever happened to turn a stone or log 

 over on a hot summer's day? Did you notice how 

 moist and cool the soil was under it? That is just 

 the way we want to keep our soil moist and cool 

 so the rootlets will not dry up and die. If you are 

 very anxious to try a summer mulch (and I sin- 

 cerely hope you will want to try many things to 

 prove them to yourself) and cannot get grass cut- 

 tings or anything of that kind, and can get stones- 

 try them around your plants, not too near the stem 

 of course, but covering the ground enough to hold 

 in the soil moisture. Medium sized flat stones would 

 be best of course, though they do not grow in all 

 places. My shale-land friends can get plenty of 

 them very easily, I know. Be sure and move the 

 stones every few days and stir the soil underneath. 

 If we did not do this the fungus diseases and in- 

 sects would have a fine place in which to grow and 

 we do not want that. 



When we cultivate often and keep the soil fine 

 and powdery on the surface we call that a "dust 

 mulch" as it is preventing the soil moisture from es- 



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