CULINARY HERBS 47 



These lumps must be left undisturbed during the 

 winter for frost to act upon. All that will be neces- 

 sary in the spring will be to rake or harrow the 

 ground. The clods will crumble. 



I once had occasion to try this method upon about 

 25 acres of land which had been made by pumping 

 mud from a river bottom upon a marsh thus con- 

 verted into dry ground by the sedimentation. Three 

 sturdy horses were needed to do the plowing. The 

 earth turned up in chunks as 

 large as a man's body. Con- 

 trary to my plowman's doubts 

 and predictions, Jack Frost 

 did a grand milling business 

 that winter ! Clods that could 

 hardly be broken in the au- 3^^^^^^ p~ ^^ ^^,^.^^ J 

 tumn with a sledge hammer 



crumbled down in the spring at the touch of a 

 garden rake! 



CULTIVATION 



Having thoroughly fined the surface of the garden 

 by harrowing and raking, the seeds may be sown or 

 the plants transplanted as already noted. From this 

 time forward the surface must be kept loose and 

 open by surface cultivation every week or 10 days 

 and after every shower that forms a crust, until the 

 plants cover the whole ground. This frequent cul- 

 tivation is not merely for the purpose of keeping 

 the weeds in check; it is a necessary operation to 

 keep the immediate surface layer powdery, in which 



