PLANTING 81 



wait," she said. "But it is n't tulips ; you have to 

 plant tulips in the fall. The things that wake up 

 very early," instructed she, "we have to plant in the 

 fall, because they don't like to be .disturbed just 

 before before their performance : that 's what Mr. 

 Trommel says." 



"I 'm going to make a garden, too," declared the 

 visitor, "but mine 's going to be all vegetables. I 

 s'pose I '11 have to dig up the yard a little before I 

 can plant the seeds." 



"Dig it !" exclaimed Mary. "I should think you 

 would ! You ought to dig the beds two feet deep, 

 and put in manure, so the roots will have something 

 to eat when they go down. ' Top-spit ' is nice, too," 

 she added judicially, dropping another nasturtium 

 seed into its hole. 



" What is 'top-spit' 1 " inquired Kandolph Findlay- 

 son, deferentially. 



"Top-spit," said Mary, rising to explain, "is like 

 this. When you dig up sod or things like that to 

 make the bed, you knock off with your shovel the 

 dirt that hangs about the roots, and you scrape off 

 the bits of roots on the under side. Well, the dirt 

 and the bits of dead roots that come off, that 's top- 

 spit, and it 's extra nice." 



