SHADES AND SHADING. 33 



or the superphosphate. Unleached wood ashes from 

 hardwood trees may be applied in the autumn and will 

 often benefit the plants. Such manures should, how- 

 ever, be used with great caution, as they are very strong, 

 and if applied too liberally are likely to injure the 

 plants, particularly while young. 



If the soil be very rich, dense, and retentive of fer- 

 tility, make the applications of stable manure lighter 

 than mentioned, or withhold them altogether ; if poor, 

 sandy and leachy, let them be heavier, even double the 

 amount specified. But try to avoid soils that demand 

 large quantities of fertilizer, because they will usually be 

 un suited to this crop in other ways. 



SHADES AND SHADING. 



The natural shade of the forest is always better 

 than any artificial shade that can be produced. This 

 must not, however, be too dense. The best way to 

 secure the proper degree of shade in the forest planta- 

 tion is to remove all the smaller growth for a space of 

 twenty feet from the margins of the beds. This, besides 

 reducing the drain made upon the soil by the roots of 

 these saplings, will leave the taller trees to supply the 

 shade, and if they are not too bare of limbs they will 

 give sufficient. 



But where forest beds cannot be laid out, be sure 

 to provide an artificial shade of some kind. This may 

 be supplied in several ways. Perhaps the simplest that 

 suggests itself to the beginner is the growing of some 

 hardy perennial climbers upon frames above the plants. 

 But this generally requires too much time to produce a 

 sufficient shade, and too much plant food is likely to be 

 taken from the soil by the climbers. It is therefore 

 not recommended. 



A second plan is the growing of annual climbers 

 upon strings. For this method make the beds run east 

 3 



