128 CARE OF PLANTS. 



around the plants. The manure mulching serves 

 to keep the ground moist and free from weeds. It 

 also keeps the flowers cleaner when they come and 

 checks the growth of slime and green molds that 

 sometimes appear on the soil. Mulching with 

 sphagnum and with pine shavings has been tried, 

 but both were abandoned in favor of the rotted 

 horse manure. 



Feeding after the plants are once established 

 is an important matter, but our advice to the 

 beginners is to let it severely alone. There are 

 three or four don'ts that come in aptly at this 

 point: (i) Don't imagine that you must feed 

 your plants in order to get the best results. This 

 is true of some crops, but not of the violet. (2) 

 Don't trifle with chemicals. They may be all right 

 in the hands of an expert, but it is like putting 

 strong medicine into the hands of a layman and 

 turning him loose to doctor his friends. (3) If 

 you must use chemical fertilizers don't experiment 

 on all your plants, but set aside a few dozen in one 

 bed and a few dozen in another, make your trials 

 carefully, and compare the results obtained with 

 those where no chemicals have been used. We 

 know from many experiments that the only safe 

 way is to feed as little as possible, as the plants if 

 let alone will take care of themselves provided the 

 soil is prepared as we have described elsewhere. 

 When you do feed apply only manure water made 

 by soaking good, strong cow manure in water, 



