CHAPTER VIII 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL FOR PLANTING 



THE best soil for planting Roses is that taken from the 

 top of good pasture land out of the open field. Avoid 

 hedgerows, and loam from under trees, as this is liable to be 

 either full of insect pests or sour. Plow up as much as you need 

 in the Fall or in early Spring. Sod is easier to work after Fall 

 plowing. If you wait until Spring, plow early and take off 

 the loam before the grubs come up from their Winter quarters. 

 For small growers, the old-fashioned loam pile may be the best 

 method. 



Commence by laying out the shape and size desired by 

 placing the sod and loam about a foot thick. On this spread 

 four inches of good fresh cow manure and keep this up until 

 you have a pile about six feet high which, when covered with 

 loam, will consist of one-fourth or one-fifth good cow manure. 

 Turn the top layer of sod grass down. Do not take off 

 more than six inches of loam from the field. In two weeks this 

 loam pile may be chopped down, well mixed and turned over, 

 choosing good sunny weather for this work. After two weeks 

 more it may be turned over again and is ready for use. This 

 is the old-fashioned method. 



On most large places today, a pair of horses and a disc- 

 harrow are put on to a piece of ground to cut up the sod after 

 plowing. The top loam and sod are then scraped into rows 

 about a foot deep and as wide as can be worked with the har- 

 row. The manure is spread on and mixed with the harrow. 

 On some places, lime or bonemeal is mixed in at this time. 

 This way is much quicker than piling up loam and chopping 



