CHAPTER VI 

 PLANTING 



It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill 

 of beans thrusting aside the soil. — Hawthorne 



Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing 

 seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the black earth 

 and the result thereof. — Celia Thaxter 



In planting, the main thought of the gardener is how he 

 .may manage to keep the whole of his garden busy all the 

 time. His object is twofold. He aims to get as large a sup- 

 ply of vegetables as possible, but at the same time he is look- 

 ing out for the welfare of the land. Leaving the soil idle for 

 one short week means, of course, that the succeeding crop is 

 retarded. More than that, it means that the effect of tillage 

 is being wasted, and that a horde of weeds, not yet in sight, 

 it is true, but surely advancing, has begun to claim the land 

 for its own. The insidious drain made by weeds upon the 

 moisture and fertility of fields is strangely enough not half 

 realized. 



In the old days the season for outdoor planting in northern 

 latitudes used to be considered as extending from March to 

 August, hardly longer. But tactics have changed, and now the 

 season may be said to last all the year round. Grass seed, for 

 instance, is sown while the snow still lingers in drifts. Winter 

 wheat started in September will have shoots all ready to send 

 up as early in the spring as any spots become bare. 



Taking into account all these new possibilities does not, 

 however, prevent the advisability of roughly mapping out a 



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