April: First Week 



POINTERS ON PLANTING; PROTECTION FROM 

 LATE FROSTS; LABELS AND MARKERS; CARE 

 OF TOOLS 



There are usually one right way and several wrong ways 

 of doing the simplest garden operation. Take, for instance, 

 the use of the spade and the rake. 



In using the spade the hard part is generally not so much 

 in lifting and turning the soil as in breaking it away before 

 it is lifted. Handle the spade so that only one edge of the 

 piece being dug will have to be broken away making the 

 cut slightly diagonal. A beginner at raking almost always 

 makes the mistake of attempting to use the implement as 

 he would to rake grass. But the purpose here is to fine and 

 level the soil, necessitating a backward-and-forward move- 

 ment over a small piece of ground. 



Some Pointers on Planting 



Practically all seed sowing is now done by machinery, but 

 occasionally it is necessary to employ the old art of hand 

 sowing, especially for flower seeds in the small garden. 

 The best way to handle very small seeds is to mix them with 

 fine, dry sand or dirt, which makes it possible to get a much 

 more even distribution in the drill. Small seeds of which 

 only a few are wanted may usually be sown from the packet. 

 Hand planting is best done with a board twelve to fifteen 

 inches wide, which can be used to mark out the row, to 

 kneel on when sowing the seed, turned on edge to press the 

 seed into the furrow for covering, and turned over to mark 

 out the next row. This insures straight rows and at the 

 same time avoids tramping down the soil. 



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