iy± GARDEN. STEPS 



The:safest plan, in using the commercial fertilizer, 

 is to open the row an inch deeper than you intend to 

 plant the seed. Then scatter the fertilizer along 

 in the row, with a swinging motion of the arm, 

 covering about four feet with each handful. Run 

 the garden wheel harrow through this, to mix the 

 fertilizer with the soil before planting. After the 

 row of seed has been covered, scatter about a pound 

 of fertilizer along each hundred feet of the row. This 

 soon washes down and helps the seed in getting a 

 good start. 



Planting Seed. — After having prepared furrows 

 four inches deep, lay the seed in, with the eye up. 

 Remember that the sprout is anxious to get into the 

 sunlight, and that the roots will not grow until it 

 does. When the eye is up, the sprout can get out 

 the shortest way, and the crop is earlier and better 

 for it. 



Do not draw all the earth back into the furrows at 

 first. A covering of about two inches is enough to 

 start with. After the sprouts are about six inches 

 high, draw back the rest of the earth about the 

 sprouts. 



Caring for the Plants. — As soon as the potato 

 begins to sprout, the potato beetles gather to :the 

 feast. It is very easy to satisfy their appetites with 

 a Httle arsenate of lead, or bug death. Arsenate of 

 lead may be applied dry or wet, mixed according to 

 the directions in the chapter on poisons. For small 



