I/O THE HOME ACRE. 



pressed firmly against them, and the crown of the 

 plant be exactly even with the surface of the soil, 

 which should also be pressed closely around it 

 with the fingers. This may seem minute detail, 

 yet much dismal experience proves it to be essen- 

 tial. I have employed scores of men, and the 

 great majority at first would either bury the crowns 

 out of sight, or else leave part of the roots exposed, 

 and the remainder so loose in the soil that a sharp 

 gale would blow the plants away. There is no one 

 so economical of time as the hired man whose 

 time is paid for. He is ever bent on saving a 

 minute or half-minute in this kind of work. On 

 one occasion I had to reset a good part of an acre 

 on which my men had saved time in planting. If 

 I had asked them to save the plants in the year of 

 '86, they might have " struck" 



The first row having been set out, I advise that 

 the line be moved forward three feet. This would 

 make the rows three feet apart, not too far in 

 ground prepared as described, and in view of the 

 subsequent method of cultivation. The bed may 

 therefore be filled up in this ratio, the plants one 

 foot apart in the row, and the rows three feet apart. 

 The next point in my system, for the kind of soil 

 named (for light, sandy soils another plan will be 

 indicated), is to regard each plant as an individual 

 that is to be developed to the utmost. Of course 



