1892 



(;LKAMMiS IN BEE CLU/rURE. 



580 



up til the lii>;lii>>i noti'li. it is nhviiys soft ami 

 light and triable. Tin' idtus of llic i)laiil.s w ill 

 reach lapiiily i-lear down to tlie tiles that carry 

 the sti'aiii. ami wfedsean be piilleil out so easily 

 that neither a hoe nor any other tool is ol'ieii 

 needed. 



Ill fact, small boys — or small girls for that 

 matter— will pull the weeds out when they are 

 small, about as cheaiily as yon can got them 

 out in any othei'way. j'.esides, we expect to 

 have these beds so full of growing [)laiits. al- 

 most every month in the year, then^ is hardly a 

 chance for a weed, unless it squeezes in between 

 the crops; and in tiiat case it is easier to "yank 

 him out "as soon as the eye of the gardener 

 gets a glimpse tif him than it is to us(> the hoe 

 or any sort of weeder. If your soil is naturally 

 very sandy you will need to bring on some of 

 the right kind of clay or clayey loam, or per- 



ihere was anywhere in tlie neigliborhood. It 

 also seemed to be a dumping-place for all the 

 old boots, tin boilers. cast-otV clothing, and 

 what not. I looked at it a great many times, 

 and longed to try my hand at making achange; 

 so as soon as I made a purchase of ilie ground I 

 went at it. The picture gives you a glimp.se of 

 that corner. 



The old building you see in the upper corner 

 at the right is a sort of stable for a coal oiTice. 

 It is not on my premises, so of course 1 did not 

 meddle with it. The cars b(\v<)ii(l indicate the 

 railroad track. The piles of drain tile are my 

 own property, but the railroad company permit 

 me to store on. theii' land, right whei-e we un- 

 load them. Well, this deserted corner was on 

 such low ground thai I was obliged to raise, my 

 beds some two or three feet. Then with un- 

 der and surface drains I got rid of the water. 





'— t'^^>a — ' ""fir — ^ 



TiiK i)Ksi;i;-n:i) < oknki; aftki; it was juxi.aimi;!). 



haps muck from the swamps. If.likeonrs.it 

 is naturally very clayey, you will ru'<'(\ a car- 

 load or two of sand. We get a beautiful white 

 sand from the shores of Lake Erie that does 

 not contain any weed seeds at all. Stable ma- 

 nure, of course, contains more or less weed 

 seeds. By composting it. however, until it is 

 very old and thoroughly rotted, we get rid of 

 most of these foul seeds. By the way. it is just 

 fun to see om- of the melon or squash family 

 get a foothold in this sort of rich soil. They 

 will come up in a night. like Jonah's gonrd. 

 and. almost before you are aware of it. the 

 roots have gone clear down to the drain tile. 

 and clear out under the paths: and pumpkins 

 and squashes and melons iriake their appear 

 ance as if by magic. In fact, with us tliey 

 seem to keep coming, and I feel so sorry for the 

 poor things, they look so rank and thrifty, that 

 I generally let them go — thai is. unless they 

 crowd something else that is of loo much value. 

 Let me digress a little. 



At one corner of my plant-garden, right op- 

 posite our factory, used to be one of the most 

 unsightly mud-holes and deserted spots that 



In fact. I greatly enjoyed making the open 

 ditch that runs up by the side of the roadway 

 leading to the tile-yard. The white stakes you 

 notice along this ditch are made of gas-pipe to 

 indicate where my land adjoins that of the 

 railroad cotupany. 



The first crop in the corner is curled parsley. 

 Next to that are some young cauliflower-plants, 

 and then a bed of Grand IJapids lettuce. Just 

 back of this first bed is the cloth-covered cold- 

 frame. Inside of this there are Prizetaker 

 onion- plants. The onion-plants did just as 

 well under the cloth covering as those on the 

 left that were covered witli glass sash. Onion- 

 plants must not be kept too hot. Without th(i 

 use of the cloth, how cvei'. th<'y would have been 

 killed entirely, as I proved by e.xperiment. You 

 will notice that the cloth is rolled half way 

 down. Back of the cloth-covered bed are early- 

 frame radishes. These stood the frost with 

 little injury, when the onion-plants would have 

 been killed. At the left of the.se radishes are 

 some more radishes coming up; in fact, they are 

 just putting on the lirst leaf. At the left of the 

 first bed. reaching from one side to the other, is 



