SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 169 



able pains is taken to get the crop growing- right up to the 

 ■driveway. 



The plowing well clone mixes the manure very thoroughly 

 with the top six inches of soil and makes every available foot 

 productive ground. The market gardener wants no waste 

 land. He cannot afford to let good land well enriched lie idle 

 and a good plowman will capture every foot of good land for 

 his employer. Besides ordinary plowing a good plowman can 

 cover peas and beans with a plow. He can cover in tomato 

 plants, ridge up peas, beans, potatoes, squashes and tomatoes ; 

 he can largely bank celery and later plow^ it out ; he can plow 

 out carrots and parsnips to perfection. In fact, he finds use 

 for the plow for most any crop grown on the market garden. 



Seeding. 



At the last plowing six men come with rakes ready to 

 make the seed bed for any seed which is to be sown in the 

 machine. All stones or rubbish are raked into the furrow. As 

 each new furrow is turned up it is raked off and the surface 

 of the plot left fine and smooth for the machine. We prepare 

 the seed bed in that way for all small seeds. 



The man with the seed sower must keep close to the raker 

 and finish as nearly the same time as he can. The prime 

 object is to get the seed in while the surface is fresh, so that 

 good moist soil will surround the seed. Seeding when the soil 

 is a little dry often makes a big dift'erence in the stand of a 

 crop. 



Alarket gardeners as a rule use large generous quantities 

 of the best seed they can buy. 



The man who runs the seed sower is usually an expert, 

 and knows how much seed to use and how deep to cover it. 

 He takes great pride in having his rows straight and evenly 

 spaced. He steps each side of the row he sows, and so all the 

 seed is covered lightly and evenly. 



Seeding begins by March 30th and ends September 12th 

 to 15th. Between those dates there are very few days when 

 the farmer is not preparing some ground and sowing seed. 



