IV PLANTING 63 



vertently bruised and injured. All the plants for 

 the day having been put in, some more soil should 

 be added to each plant ; and then tread but lightly, 

 make the surface level, and look to the row again in 

 a few days with a rake, filling depressions and doing 

 away with any cracks that may appear. This will 

 be better than treading too heavily at the time of 

 planting. If the weather should continue very drj^ , 

 watering may be desirable ; and if the plants have 

 good green leaves on when put in, the heads should 

 be watered at once on unpacking, and the plants 

 well watered and syringed immediately after 

 planting. 



It is easy to imagine a beginner having some 

 uneasy reflections after following the above instruc- 

 tions. " I have planted my roses only four inches 

 deep, and trained the roots horizontally, as certainly 

 seems right from the analogy of fruit trees and from 

 what I know of the advantage to roots of the fertilising 

 influences of sun, air, and the surface bacteria. But 

 nearly all my manure, and I gave a great quantity 

 of valuable stuff to my Teas, has been buried some 

 distance below the plants, and what is the use of 

 all that manure there, if the roots are not to be 

 allowed to go down to it ? " 



Here comes in another important principle, to 

 illustrate which I will take as my text the soil in 

 which hyacinths and other bulbs are grown in 

 immense quantities in Holland for sale. This soil 

 is extremely valuable, as the profit on the cultivation 

 in good hands may reach quite £50 an acre. And 

 what is it ? Pure sand and nothing else for a depth 

 of four feet or more, which no English farmer would 

 take rent free. Yet the hyacinth must have plenty 



