AND THE WILDERNESS BLOSSOMED 



sown about the first of July I have had a fresh 

 bright mass of bloom in September. Like all 

 small seeds, that of the Poppy should be simply 

 scattered evenly upon the surface of the bed. If 

 you are generous in your sowing the birds can 

 get their share- and you will still have enough to 

 crowd the bed with plants. Any excess of plants 

 must be weeded out to secure free blooming, and 

 it will be found even more necessary to prevent 

 overcrowding with the Opium Poppy than with 

 its relative the Corn Poppy. 



Next after the Poppies should, in my estima- 

 tion, come the Sweet Peas, Lathyrus odoratus. 

 With this beautiful flower the preparation of the 

 soil is a matter of prime importance. In the fall 

 I clear off the space reserved for Sweet Peas, and 

 spread over it roughly the dressing from the 

 earth-closets, leaving it there on the surface for 

 the winter. As early in the spring as the ground 

 can be worked, I add a coating of unbleached 

 wood ashes and bone-dust, with garden phos- 

 phate, the whole being lightened with about an 

 inch in depth of leaf mould. The soil is then 

 thoroughly forked up, and the seeds are planted 

 in drills, about five inches deep, at a distance 

 apart of two inches. Thus far the result has 



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