No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 89 



leno:th you wish the bed, — twelve inches wide and two 

 inches thick are none too heavy. These are Iield in place 

 by stakes about three feet long and three or more inches 

 wide, sharpened and driven, two to the plank. The end 

 ones should be nailed to both planks, and come to the top 

 of the plank to break the joint. It is not so particular 

 about the centre ones. Pieces of rough boards are all right 

 for these stakes. Nine-penny nails are the best size to use 

 for nailing the stakes to the planks, if you use stakes one 

 inch thick ; and by nailing through the stake into the plank 

 it does not tear the plank to pieces much when taken down, 

 as they are every summer. 



Five inches seems to be about the right amount of fall on 

 a six-foot sash ; and the way we get it is to take a piece of 

 board five inches wide and tack a cleat on one edge at the 

 end, letting it stick out two inches or more beyond the 

 board. By resting this cleat on the plank you have set, and 

 letting the board drop its whole width, five inches, below 

 the plank already set, and setting the edge on the south 

 plank, all you have to do is to put the level on this board 

 and bring it up to a level, and you have the fall with very 

 little trouble. Eight or ten inch plank are all right for this 

 side, and narrower will do. We have a mark on this board 

 that we have to level with, so as to know just how wide to 

 set the plank. 



The next thing is to put in one end plank, and it should 

 be put in as near square with the plank as possible ; if it is 

 not, the sash will run badly. We generally let it come 

 above the other planks a little, thinking that it makes a 

 tighter joint. 



We now want half as many spreaders — that is, sticks to 

 go between the planks, to keep them from shutting up — as 

 there are sash ; and it does not make much difl^erence what 

 they are, provided they are fairly straight and still'. We 

 find two by three inch spruce the most satisfactory. 



The planks now are to be banked nearly to the top with 

 loam, and the ground should be smooth, so that all surface 

 water will run off immediately. 



The ground in the bed should be forked up as fine as pos- 

 sible, and left soft and loose. Forest leaves are perhaps the 



