PLANTING 89 



all the stones, big and little, and in crumbling the last ob- 

 stinate lumps. For a lump of earth, which invariably ties up 

 a supply of food, may be regarded in the light of an invest- 

 ment. A perfectly safe investment this, but certainly not an 

 available one ; and on that account many a plant, just for the 

 need of a little ready food, may actually starve to death. 

 Thoroughly crumbling the lump would have saved the plant- 

 let's life. " Fining soil," writes an expert, " may be equal to 

 fertilizing it." Indeed, the ideal soil texture has been de- 

 scribed as resembling nothing so much as soft, black soot. 

 Fortunately, if sufficient pains is taken, even very ordinary soil 

 can be brought to that high pitch of refinement. It happened 

 not long ago that some schoolboys listened with a good deal 

 - of interest to a discussion upon this subject, but shrugged 

 their shoulders at the thought of descending to such petty 

 methods. Still they did not feel quite satisfied without test- 

 ing the matter for themselves. So they smuggled from home 

 an old bread sieve and pulverized one little patch till the earth 

 that passed through was as fine and soft as flour. Then they 

 " raced " two sets of plants, growing one set in lumpy clods 

 and the other in this superfine material. As a result the 

 records of the second lot ran so far ahead of the first, in size 

 and strength, as to make sifting all the rage in this school. 



At last, through infinite pains, the ground, let us suppose, 

 is right ; the seeds are right ; it only remains now for us to 

 " put them in right." Just two points are to be kept in mind : 

 the distance apart and the depth. There is, no doubt, a right 

 depth for every seed, if we but knew it. For many of the 

 commonest seeds experienced gardeners have worked out cer- 

 tain general rules, which, for convenience, are recorded in a 

 planting table. 1 The depth at which they are placed makes 

 all the difference in the world to some seeds, while to other 

 1 See Appendix. 



