THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



tween to cultivate through." " Yes'em, I under- 

 stand." An hour later he reports for more work. 

 "Well, how deep did you plant those peas?" 

 " Four inches deep, tramped down the rows, and 

 raked them over. Planted the beans two inches 

 deep and two inches apart in the row and tramped 

 them down," he answered glibly. Very good! A 

 few days after a heavy rain and every pea on top 

 of the ground, and all sprouted, but nowhere any 

 beans. An investigation demonstrated that the 

 beans were reposing four inches below the surface, 

 all sprouted and decayed result, the loss of both 

 crops. He had simply " mixed those babies up." 

 Had they been planted as directed, there would 

 have been an excellent crop of semi-early peas and 

 an abundant supply of beans. 



The tramping down of the seed should never be 

 omitted when the ground is in a dry condition. On 

 very wet soil it is not necessary nor best, but on dry 

 soil it is indispensable. The reason for it is obvious. 

 If the soil is dry and lies loosely about the seed, 

 there will not be sufficient moisture to cause the 

 seed to germinate. Or, should it be able to do so, 

 the contact with the soil will not be close enough 



to allow the tiny roots to take hold upon it, and 



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