Culture for the Exhibitor 



inches is ample. Remove the top twelve inches 

 and get down into the subsoil twelve or fifteen 

 inches, incorporating thoroughly with it plenty 

 of good half-decomposed durtg horse if the soil 

 is heavy, cow if it is light. Into the top twelve 

 inches when it is being replaced, incorporate 

 more decomposed manure and some leaf soil 

 or spent hops. If this is done and done well 

 in November, it will require nothing more till 

 spring, when only the top should be pricked over 

 with a fork two or three weeks before planting. 

 One great advantage of preparation in autumn is 

 that the ground gets time to settle down. To get 

 a good short- jointed growth on sweet peas, the 

 ground must be firm. Artificial manures are all 

 very well, but a little goes a long way. A little 

 bone meal and a little superphosphate dusted on 

 the top of the subsoil in autumn will be helpful, 

 but more than that I do not advise. 1 If it is not 

 too much labour and expense, the whole plot of 

 ground should be prepared as advised, but ex- 

 cellent results will be obtained by preparing 

 trenches three feet wide as advised above, leaving 

 three feet of untrenched ground between each 

 trench. Rows of sweet peas for exhibition 

 should not be closer than six feet. 



1 See note as to liming on p. 19. 



37 



