CHAPTER XX. 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE GARDEN. 



The Soil Best Adapted to its Growth. 



The most desirable soil for flowers, particularly for Annuals, Peren- 

 nials, etc., is a mellow loam, that will not bake down and crack open 

 under the influence of hard showers and hot suns. If you do not pos- 

 sess a good soil, why, of course, you must do the best you can, and you 

 can improve a stiff, clayey soil by adding sand or ashes and manure. 



A flower garden must have good drainage ; if water settles upon its 

 surface, and freezes and thaws during the winter, you may be sure that 

 your plants will not survive. There is no use in trying to grow flowers 

 in poor soil ; but every one can make a small compost heap, in an out-of- 

 the-way corner, and give it all the soap suds on washing days that are 

 not needed on the borders. When the leaves fall, secure all you can ; 

 hire a small boy to gather them for you, and put them on the pile ; they 

 are said to be the very poetry of manure certainly, they contain the 

 best elements of flower food. Add to this heap the weeds that are col- 

 lected, but don't have any seed-pods among them ; throw upon it all the 

 slops from the house, and, by the next year, you will have good plant 

 food. It must be turned over several times so as to expose it to the 

 action of the air. A load of grass sods from the meadow is the best 

 foundation for such a " bank." To use this season, procure a large bar- 

 rel, and fill it up with as good soil as your garden can boast, then turn 

 into it, every morning, the slops from the chambers. No disagreeable 

 odor will arise from it, but a rich soil will be made. Use it carefully, 

 putting a few tablespoonsful about the roots of the plants, and digging 



