A CITY FRUIT CARD EAT. 57 



How your lot is to be drained depends on so many 

 things peculiar to your soil and location, that you 

 must trust wholly to yourself or some competent 

 neighbor who is familiar with the lay or slope of your 

 land and its immediate neighborhood. However, as 

 nearly all our city lots are carved out of fields and 

 orchards in suburbs and "additions," there is usually 

 no need of drainage. Besides, water in the soil is quite 

 as bad for you and your babies as for your plants, and 

 it is not to be presumed you would consent to buy 

 or build a house on wet land. As for the soil itself, 

 if not good, it can usually be made good by carting 

 in good soil from some field or pasture. Commonly, 

 in newly made districts in the borders of our towns 

 and cities, the soil is good enough for all practical 

 purposes. All that it will probably need will be 

 plenty of manure. Twenty-five dollars' worth will 

 be little enough, and if you can afford to spend twice 

 as much, it will not be too much. We are planting 

 now once for all, and by a liberal expenditure now, 

 money will be saved in the future. If you have pos- 

 session of the place in the fall, by all means have the 

 soil carefully spaded up and left rough through the 

 winter. By so doing, the soil is exposed to the frost 

 and air and broken up fine, and eggs of insects are 

 destroyed. All the plants, except the strawberries, 

 can be planted in the fall, but as there is a certain 

 amount of risk from injury by ice, it is better to 

 plant in the spring. The only advantage of faU 

 planting is the time gained, as every one is in a huri y 

 in the spring, and unless you give your orders early, 

 the plants may arrive late or in bad condition. 



Let us look at each crop in detail for a moment. 

 The rhubarb will be the first thing to start in the 

 spring, and the roots must be set out as early as pos- 

 sible after the frost leaves the ground. For thi*^ 



