268 How to Make the Garden Pay. 



neighborhood are usually the ones to plant and experiment 



with. The highly-lauded, expensive novelties had better be 



touched very lightly, and in a cautious, experimental way only. 

 PLANTING. Where, in accordance with these suggestions, 



really good plants are procured from a grower near-by, success 



will be rendered much more 

 certain from the very start, 

 than where one has to depend 

 on plants purchased from a 

 distance. Reliable nursery- 

 men send out a pretty fair 

 lot, such for instance as 

 shown in annexed illustra- 

 tion ; and if these are well 

 packed, and suffer no unusual 

 delay in transportation, they 

 will do well enough. Often 

 such plants, when received 

 by express, are not exactly 

 what we would wish them 

 to be. Immediately after 

 arrival place them in a damp, 

 cool place, (cellar or the 

 like), and keep their roots 

 covered with moist sand 

 until wanted for setting out. 

 When this time has come, 



and the field is all in readiness, trim off about one-third of the 



roots with a slanting cut, using a sharp knife, and remove all 



partly-decayed leaves ; next dip the roots in water, and let a boy 



scatter the plants along the rows, one 



plant to every twelve or fifteen inches, 



and follow (or let your man follow) on 



hands and knees, taking up each plant in 



its turn, spreading the roots carefully, 



and plant it in the bottom of the furrow, 



on a little mound of soil, filling in mellow 



earth around it, so the crown will be the 



veriest trifle below the surface of the 



ground, but not covered. This is done 



because the crown-growth has an upward 



tendency, and the plants gradually rise 



higher out of the ground as the seasons 



go by. The annexed illustration shows a fine sample plant, well 



planted. As always in setting plants or other growths, the most 



important point, and the one making success reasonably sure in 



any case, is the thorough firming of the soil around the roots, 



Bunch of Strawberry Plants. 



A Good Plant Well 

 Planted. 



