18 MAKY'S GARDEN AND HOW IT GKEW 



ready the boxes to-day. Have you the seeds? 

 Then you shall bring them over and we will start the 

 babies growing. See if you can find three boxes 

 under that bench yonder." 



The under-gardeuer crawled with alacrity under 

 the bench, and brought out, one after another, three 

 shallow boxes, each two feet long and a foot wide, 

 but not more than three inches deep. 



"That is right ; now you must fill them." 



But before he had finished speaking, one of the 

 boxes was on the potting-bench, and the small brown 

 hands were rapidly scooping up the earth and filling it. 



"Hold! Wait a bit! Not so fast ! exclaimed 

 Mr. Trommel. "You must mix a little sand with 

 that soil it is too rich for the babies ; it must be 

 nourishing, but ifor the very little ones it must also 

 be plain ; half sand is not too much." He scooped 

 with his big hand some sand from another bench, 

 threw it into Mary's half-filled box, then bent down 

 and took from under the bench a shallow square box 

 with a bottom of wire netting ; this he placed over 

 one of the empty boxes. "It is better to sift it 

 again," he said. 



"Oh, let me do it," begged the under-gardener. 

 "It is just like making cookies." 



