84 PRIZE GARDENING 



skill, intelligence and system on the owner^s part. His 

 methods with various crops are well worth noting: 



Starting Seeds. — I get wooden boxes about one 

 foot square and three inches deep and bore holes in 

 the bottom of each for drainage. I place a handful of 

 small broken stones over each auger hole and then 

 nearly fill the boxes with potting soil. Potting soil is 

 prepared as follows : Every spring before filling my 

 hotlDcds with manure I place in the bottom of the 

 smaller one layers of sods, grass side down, to the 

 depth of ten to twelve inches. Over this I put fresh 

 manure. In the fall 1 fork this over several times, 

 then sift and barrel the entire contents and store in a 

 dry place. This soil mixed with one-third sifted sand 

 constitutes what I call potting soil. I use it for pot- 

 ting bulbs or plants and for starting seeds that are 

 not sown in the open ground. 



After filling the boxes nearly full with the potting 

 soil, I firm and level the soil with a block or brick, so 

 that the boxes are two-thirds full. Upon this I drop 

 seed thinly in rows, each kind in a box by itself, tack- 

 ing the seed envelope stating the name of the variety 

 upon the edge of the box. Then I gently sift fine pot- 

 ting soil over the seed, covering aster seed one-thirty- 

 second of an inch. Then I firm the soil again lightly. 

 For watering I employ one of three methods, which- 

 ever may be most convenient at the time. The first 

 is to place the box in water not quite deep enough to 

 run over the seed box. There the box remains until 

 the soil is saturated up to the seed, when it is taken out 

 and water drained off. The second way, after the soil 

 is firmed, and before planting the seed, sprinkle over 

 dry soil and do not firm at all. The third way, after 

 the seed is sown and the soil firmed, place a coarse 

 cloth over the box and sprinkle with water until the 

 soil is moist. I fancy the second method the best, 



