should prevent the moisture from drying up. Let us cover it with a 

 layer of loose, dry earth! We will make this covering by raking the 

 bed every few days, — once every week anyway, and oftener than that 

 if the top of the soil becomes hard and crusty, as it does after a rain. 

 Instead of pouring water on the bed, therefore, we will keep the 

 moisture in the bed. 



If, however, the soil becomes so dry in spite of you that the 

 plants do not thrive, then water the bed. Do not sprinkle it, but water 

 it. Wet it clear through at evening. Then in the morning, when the 

 surface begins to get dry, begin the raking again to keep the water 

 from getting away. Sprinkling the plants every day or two is one of 

 the surest ways to spoil them. 



4. When and how to sow. — The sweet peas should be put in Just as 

 soon as the ground can be dug, even before frosts are passed. Yet, 

 good results can be had if the seeds are put in as late as the 10th of 

 May. In the sweet pea garden at Cornell last year, we sowed the seeds 

 on the 20th of April. This was about right. The year before, we 

 sowed them on the 30th. If sown very early, they are likely to bloom 

 better, but they may be gone before the middle of September. The 

 blooming can be much prolonged if the flowers are cut as soon as they 

 begin to fade. 



Plant sweet peas deep, — two to three or sometimes even four inches. 

 When the plants are a few inches high, pull out a part of them so that 

 they will not stand nearer together than siz inches in the row. It is a 

 good plan to sow sweet peas in double rows, — that is, put two rows 

 only five or six inches apart, — and stick the brush or place the chick- 

 en-wire support between them. 



China asters may be sown from the middle of May to the first of 

 June. In one large test at Cornell, we sowed them the 4th of June, 

 and had good success, but this is rather later than we would advise. 

 The China asters are autumn flowers, and they should be in their 

 prime in September and early October. 



Sow the aster seed shallow, — not more than a half inch deep. The 

 tall kinds of asters should have at least a foot between the plants in 

 the row, and the dwarf kinds six to eight inches. 



Sometimes China asters have rusty or yellow spots on the undersides 

 of their leaves. This is a fungous disease. If it appears, have your 

 father make some ammoniacal carbonate of copper solution and then 

 spray ihem with it; or Bordeaux mixture will do just as well or better, 

 only that it discolors the leaves and flowers. 



5. What varieties to choose. — In the first place, do not plant too 

 much. A garden which looks very small when the pussy willows come 



