HILLS AND FLAT CULTURE. 93 



made on the edges of the beds, as without some protec- 

 tion the heavy rains wash the edges of the beds very 

 badly. 



11 A few days before sowing the seed, in September, I 

 water the bed very thoroughly until the soil is thoroughly 

 saturated to the depth of eight or ten inches. Leave it 

 until it is in just the right condition to work. Then in- 

 corporate the sand and manure into the bed in the best 

 posisble manner by vigorous use of a six-tined hoe fork 

 with round steel teeth about one-fourth of an inch in diam- 

 eter and eight inches long. This thorough work, with the 

 addition of the sand and manure, leaves my beds about 

 eight inches above the general level of the land, and be- 

 tween each bed I leave a walk fourteen inches wide. 



1 ' Some may say it is a great deal of trouble to prepare 

 such beds. Granted; but when the beds are once care- 

 fully made they are fit for immediate use at all seasons 

 of the year, and for many years to come, not only for 

 onions, but for early lettuce, radishes, turnips, table beets, 

 dwarf peas, etc., that require a light, rich, and well- 

 drained soil. An application of a little liquid hen ma- 

 nure occasionally is very beneficial, and is all the fertil- 

 izing the beds will need for many years." 



This shows small-scale, intensive work. With such 

 beds it is possible to have vegetables in edible condition, 

 before it would be wise to sow seeds of the same kinds 

 in open ground in the same locality. 



Hilling. Hilling of plants to afford soil-room for 

 growth started from shallow planting is another means 

 of attaining drainage and soil warmth during the winter 

 season. It is the ridge principle applied in spots and with 

 vastly greater labor. If one has a fancy for it he can in- 

 dulge in it in a hand-made winter garden, but otherwise 

 there is nothing to be said for it. 



Flat Culture. All references to systems which lift the 

 plant-bed above the common surface should be accompan- 

 ied by the clear declaration, that except as associated with 



