Summer Mulching 25 



life in the fall. The best way to proceed 

 is to work one section at a time say a 

 ten-foot strip. Cut back the foliage, take 

 up the plants and lay them aside, covering 

 with burlap or some material to keep the 

 sun and wind from their roots. Then dig 

 the bed up, deeply, and add some well- 

 rotted manure, rake smoothly and replant. 

 While it is probably best not to set the 

 same plants back in the same position oc- 

 cupied before, it may be done, for if the 

 soil has been well worked up it is apt to 

 have changed its position. Then take up 

 another section and do the same. In the 

 meantime all large roots are divided. 

 Some may be pulled apart, but more often 

 they have to be cut through with a sharp 

 spade or a butcher knife. Discard all evi- 

 dence of decay and use only the healthy 

 outer rim, possessing well-developed roots. 

 They generally show the stalk buds for 

 next year's growth. Three to five of these 

 buds will make a good plant. Sometimes, 

 in the case, perhaps, of a cherished but 



