THE SOIL AND ITS TREATMENT n 



soil beneath is not of such vital importance, as the 

 roots of the plants do not touch it. I remember that 

 the soil in the " French " garden at Mayland, Essex, 

 was little better than harsh brick earth, and yet some 

 magnificent crops were produced in the frames and 

 cloches upon the beds and composts that had been 

 specially prepared for them. 



Whatever the soil may be, it is essential to have it 

 cleared of weeds and rubbish prior to digging and 

 levelling, so that it will be a fairly easy matter to mark 

 out the lines where the frames and beds are to be laid 

 down. 



PLANNING OUT THE GROUND. Having decided upon 

 the number of frames to be used and hot-beds to be 

 made it is necessary to mark the ground out in parallelo- 

 grams with a narrow pathway or alley between each. 

 The frames used by the French growers are 4 ft. 

 5 in. in width. Consequently, the beds will be made 

 wide enough to take them. As the ground in Paris 

 is exceedingly dear often 30 or 40 per acre the 

 French growers cannot afford to waste any space. 

 Hence the alley or pathway between one range of 

 frames and another is reduced to the least possible 

 width. This is generally about 12 in. but often 

 only 9 in. just sufficient to allow a man to walk 

 between them carefully. In places where land is not 

 excessively dear, it is scarcely necessary to have such 

 narrow pathways, as they are by no means easy for 

 the novice to negotiate. One must, however, remember 

 that the wider pathways will absorb much more 

 manure for banking up or " lining " the frames in 

 winter than the narrow ones ; consequently, wide 

 pathways would be a source of considerable expense. 



