MARCH: THIRD WEEK 71 



it straight on this row so that the succeeding rows will be 

 exactly parallel. 



Don't just empty a packet of seed into the drill. If you 

 have a garden plan you will know just exactly what you 

 have to do. An)rway figure out just how much of each 

 thing you want to plant, and plant no more or no less. 

 If a little seed of some things is left over — not enough to 

 save — throw it away. 



In planting very early in the spring you should keep in 

 mind existing conditions, which are quite different from 

 those that wiU obtain later. At this time of the year the 

 ground is likely to be too wet rather than too dry. There- 

 fore seeds should be planted comparatively shallow, not 

 so deeply covered as you would cover the same kind of 

 seed six or eight weeks hence. For the same reason it 

 will not be so necessary to roll the soil hard above the seeds, 

 though they should never be covered loosely. Seeds should 

 be planted thickly, as conditions are not whoUy favorable. 



Planting by Hand 



When seeds have to be put in by hand use a long flat 

 board twelve or fifteen inches wide. Mark out the drill 

 along one edge of this, then kneel on the board and scatter 

 the seeds thinly and evenly. Cover them lightly and press 

 down the whole row evenly with the edge of the board. 



Fertilizer or manure for vegetables sown from seed is 

 almost always broadcast on the surface before planting, 

 Part of that used for plants to be set out, however, should 

 be applied in the hill. The quickest way of doing this, 

 when any niunber of plants is to go out, is to open a row 

 with the hoe attachment on the wheel hoe, mark across the 

 row, drop the fertilizer or manure at the intersections of the 

 lines and then cover the row again — the marks left between 

 the rows showing where the plants are to be set. When 

 only a few dozen plants are to be set, however, it will 

 probably be quicker simply to mark out the rows, dig small 

 holes with the hoe at each place, drop in the manure or 



