XXVII 



DETAILS OF GARDEN WORK 



How TO MAKE READY A FLOWER-BED 



First stake out the bed, have it dug to the depth of two 

 feet, the soil being thrown to one side; then it is possible to 

 see what manner of soil it is. 



Roughly speaking, there are three kinds of soil: clay, sand, 

 and gravel. A workable mixture of clay and sand is called 

 loam. When garden books and seed packets refer to a sandy 

 loam, a mixture is meant in which sand predominates; in a 

 clay loam, clay is the ruling ingredient. When garden books 

 advise a "rich, heavy loam," the writers probably mean a 

 clay loam which, by the addition of manure, or by the plough- 

 ing in, during successive years, of cover crops, has been suffi- 

 ciently enriched to furnish abundant nutriment. A "garden 

 loam" is a deeply worked loam which has been long under 

 cultivation. 



Manure both enriches the soil and improves the texture 

 "lightens it," and "shortens it," as the gardeners say, very 

 much as butter or lard "shortens" a housewife's cookery. 

 Putting it on in the autumn is a definite advantage, since it 

 then becomes thoroughly incorporated with the soil. On the 

 other hand, a commercial fertilizer, adding only nutriment and 

 not affecting the texture, need not be applied until the plants 

 have an actual use for it as a food. If the soil is poor and 

 sandy, best throw it away and put in better; if this is not 

 practicable, then plant only those "complaisant" flowers which 

 will not object to a meagre diet. 



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