36 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



required. The sashes are usually shaded with whitewash 

 to prevent the blooms being scorched by the sun. The 

 small grower will find it advisable to grow his plants in 

 much narrower beds, it being more convenient to protect 

 individual flowers rather than entire beds of them. To 

 begin at the beginning, the site of the Pansy or Viola 

 bed should be decided upon in the autumn, and it should 

 then be deeply cultivated and manured liberally with good 

 cow, or horse manure. The edges should be nicely trimmed, 

 but the surface ought to be left rough to the winter weather. 

 The situation of the bed should not be one that is exposed 

 directly to the full rays of the noonday sun, especially in 

 gardens in the southern counties. 



In dry weather in January or February the beds should 

 be given a good dusting of soot and bone meal. Don't lay 

 it on half an inch thick, but sprinkle it so that the ground is 

 just thinly powdered. If there is some leaf-mould about, 

 or thoroughly decomposed manure, it might be passed 

 through an inch sieve and also scattered over the top of 

 the bed. The beds should, after these things are applied, 

 be turned over to the depth of 9 or 10 inches with a dig- 

 ging fork, so that the ingredients will be thoroughly incor- 

 porated with the soil. The bed or beds should again be 

 trimmed up, as this is the last attention they will require 

 before planting is done in the latter half of March or very 

 early in April. If the grower has the plants beside him in 



