148 



GARDEN GUIDE 



able at all times of the year, while moisture is retained by it for a long 

 time. If you have only a heavy clay soil, it can be improved by adding 

 sand, wood ashes, sifted coal ashes, lime and humus. If the soil is light 

 and sandy, heavy loam or muck added to it will improve it, and humus 

 will also be very beneficial. 



Drainage is one of the most important factors. If your garden 

 spot is low and wet, by all means put in a drain tile at the first oppor- 

 tunity. Deep spading, and in extreme cases, loosening up the subsoil 

 with agricultural blasting powder, will tend to overcome this difficulty. 



If the garden can be located in a spot where it is protected from 

 prevailing Winter and Spring winds the earliness of the crops will be 

 advanced very noticeably. A good, thick hedge of Hemlock, Spruce, 

 or Privet to the north and west of the garden, if it is not naturally 

 sheltered, may be made to serve the double purpose of providing a 

 wind shield, and of screening it from other parts of the place. 



GROWING PLANTS FOR SETTING OUT. If you utilize your frames 

 to advantage, your first plantings of Cabbage, Cauliflower, Lettuce, 

 Beets, Onions, Tomatoes, Peppers, Egg-plants, Lima Beans, Corn, 

 Cucumbers, Melons and Squash will be well started by the time it is 

 warm enough to plant them out of doors. 



If you have only coldframes, a few plants may be started in the 

 house in a warm, sunny window to be put into the frames when they 

 are large enough to transplant. 



In making a hotbed begin a week or ten days before you expect to 

 make your first sowing of seed. Procure horse manure that has not yet 

 fermented, allowing one-sixth of a cord to each sash to be heated. 

 Unless the manure has some considerable straw or bedding mixed in 

 with it, it will be better to add one-fourth of leaves to the manure when 

 it is piled up. Build it up in a square heap, tramping it down solidly as 

 it is built After three or four days, fork it over and restack, putting 

 what was the outside of the heap in the center. Sprinkle with water 

 any parts of it that may seem dry. Fork the heap over again within 

 three or four days. In this way the whole mass may be made to fer- 

 ment evenly, and will be in just the right shape to put into the frames 



Box for the transplanting of seedlings 



