Gardening for Amateurs 



Much has at times been made of the huge 

 wicker baskets used by the maraichers of 

 France for carrying manure between the 

 frames. It is necessary to have these for 

 carrying manure for placing round frames 

 where the heat is declining and the crops are 

 likely to suffer from want of warmth. But 

 when making up the bulk of the beds at the 

 beginning of the season, much, if not all the 

 manure, may be wheeled in barrows with a 

 little care in arrangement. It is, of course, 

 obvious that when the frames are once in 

 position it is impossible to wheel a barrow 

 through a 12- or 15-inch alley. 



Preparing the Frames. When the 

 manure has been placed in position the sur- 

 face should be beaten as level as possible, 

 or there will be great inequalities in the 

 soil surfacing. On the manure place about 

 6 inches of the best soil procurable ; the top 

 of the soil bed ought not to be more than 

 4 or 5 inches from the glass. It must 

 be remembered that these frames are much 

 flatter than those commonly used in gardens, 

 the gradient from back to front being much 

 less than usual. The fall from back to 

 front need not be more than 1 inch. Many 

 people get the holes in readiness for this work, 

 but the grower can, if he likes, make his 

 own frames, 4 feet from back to front, the 

 length will depend upon the number of lights 

 used. It is not advisable' to have the frames 

 too large or cumbersome, as they are then not 

 easy to move from one part of the garden to 

 another, as is necessary, in this form of 

 gardening. Pieces of quartering should be 

 securely nailed in the corners of the frames 

 to give strength and solidity. 



Soil and Situation. I have seen it 

 stated that it matters little what kind of soil 

 is chosen for French gardening. Well, so 

 long as this is a fair sample of loam it 

 may not matter a great deal, but clay 

 should be avoided. Very light soil is not to 

 be desired but does not suffer from such grave 

 objections as clay or soil of a clayey nature. 

 The old decayed manure of the beds will 

 make any kind of soil good after a time, but 

 the beginner must not handicap himself at 

 the outset with cold, heavy stuff. As time 

 goes on the soil of a French garden becomes 

 marvellously rich and light. Seeds ger- 

 minate in it with great certainty and very 



quickly, the young plants making wonderful 

 progress, and soon coming to maturitv. 

 This is one reason why salads and young 

 vegetables grown on this system are so tender 

 and of such excellent quality. 



The situation of the garden should, if 

 possible, be chosen with a view to shelter 

 from the north and east. A southern or 

 south-western aspect ought to be selected ; 

 if on a slight slope so much the better. 

 In such a position the frames and cloches 

 obtain all the warmth it is possible to get 

 from the sun, and the shelter or part shelter 

 from cold winds is found of great assistance. 

 When the position is unavoidably exposed 

 to cold winds protection can be, and fre- 

 quently is, secured by the erection of close 

 wooden fences or by means of wattle hurdles. 

 But such things all add to the initial ex- 

 pense, and may in great part be avoided if 

 the site is well chosen. 



When preparing the beds the position 

 for the first line of frames should be marked 

 off, and the soil from this excavated some 

 6 to 8 inches in depth. This soil from the first 

 position is wheeled back to the end of the 

 ground for use in surfacing the manure in 

 the last line of frames put down. When 

 the first line is in place, the soil from the 

 next position will be available for surfacing, 

 and so on throughout the piece of ground 

 until the wheeled soil is reached with which 

 to finish off the last frame. The bed of 

 manure is usually extended at the end of 

 the frames, or after the frames are finished 

 the ground there is covered with manure 

 to the depth of 18 inches or so, which 

 is surfaced with 6 or 8 inches of soil, and 

 upon this the cloches or bell-glasses are 

 placed. 



This brings us to an important question 

 that has been much discussed, and that 

 is, the value of cloches as compared with 

 frames. From my own experience and that 

 of friends who have tried both on a large 

 scale, the preference generally is for frames as 

 being the more profitable. The contents of 

 frames are easier to protect than those of 

 cloches, the labour incidental to their working 

 is less in proportion to the produce raised, 

 and ventilation and watering can be managed 

 with less expense and trouble proportionately. 

 There is also the question of breakages, 



