THE GARDEN PRIMER 



ized sheep manure. After the ground is well frosted 

 apply a mulch of stable manure of five or six inches 

 thickness and let it remain until spring. That will 

 prevent the alternate freezing and thawing of the ground 

 near the roots. It is the freezing and thawing, and not 

 the freezing itself, that damages or destroys the plants. 

 In the spring when the mulch is removed work into 

 the ground another application of pulverized sheep 

 manure. Pulverized sheep manure is best, as no other 

 fertilizer appears to contain all the requisite essentials 

 to produce such luxurious and bounteous growth. 



About the next most important phase of the garden 

 work will be the fall planting of bulbs, both for indoor 

 and outdoor culture. If bulb culture is to be carried 

 on even to only a limited extent, there are some neces- 

 sary primary preparations to be looked after. It is 

 just as well to arrange these preliminaries now. 



Failures are usually due to lack of proper treatment 

 both in planting and culture. Get together a liberal 

 supply of proper soil and a supply of pots. Have the 

 soil very rich, loamy and free from small stones. A 

 liberal quantity of powdered charcoal will be a desirable 

 addition, as it acts both as an aid to drainage and puri- 

 fies the soil, preventing souring. If the new catalogues 

 have been received it is a good time to begin considering 

 a selection, and in making the selection keep in mind the 

 fact that small bulbs should be grouped; half a dozen 

 or more planted together give more satisfactory results 

 than when the same number are planted singly. It is 



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