174 AROUND THE YEAR IN THE GARDEN 



have no frame available as good results may be had if a 

 little trouble is taken to prepare the seed bed properly. It 

 should be elevated four or five inches above the soil level, 

 to provide perfect drainage — an abundance of moisture is 

 essential to success, but too much will prove fatal. The 

 bed may be made easily by digging a narrow path round 

 it, but more protection will be given if you make a tem- 

 porary frame of boards six or eight inches wide simk into 

 the ground far enough to hold and extending a few inches 

 above the surface Hke a low cold-frame. It is not necessary, 

 however, to have a slope to the front. The frame need not 

 be large — a three-by-six or a four-by-four frame will accom- 

 modate fifteen or twenty packets of seed. 



Preparing the Seed Bed 



The soil in this frame should be worked up and made as 

 fine and smooth as possible. It should then be topped off 

 with two or three inches of specially prepared soil. This 

 is necessary because ordinary garden soil dries out or forms 

 a crust on the surface that is bad for the very fiine seeds to 

 be sown, some of them so small that they are merely pressed 

 into the soil instead of being covered. 



Procure a quantity of leaf mold or very old, thoroughly 

 rotted manure, and mix with some friable garden soil or 

 with shavings from the under side of sod. If the soil is 

 heavy add a little sand. Work this all together and then 

 pass it through a coal sieve so that roots, lumps, small 

 stones, and so forth, will be removed and every particle of 

 soil will be finely pulverized. Spread this over the surface 

 of your bed and press it down lightly with a small piece of 

 board; then soak thoroughly with a fine spray. 



When water ceases to soak in let it remain for twelve to 

 twenty-four hours to dry out slightly on the surface. Then 

 mark off little furrows three to six inches apart and just deep 

 enough to be visible. For the smaller seeds the mark is more 

 to get them in straight lines than to bury them. When only 

 a few seeds are to be sown deep flats may be used. They 



