THE 80 
GARDEN YARD 
if your patch is not level, else the rain may make 
channels of your seed rows. If possible, choose 
a southern exposure for your garden; because 
this gets all the sun, it will be earlier than less 
favored exposures. Lay out a plan of your 
land and work with a definite purpose. The 
“rule of thumb” is no more satisfactory in 
gardening than in carpentering. 
If the slope of your land allows it, run your 
rows north and south, so that each row may get 
the sun from the east in the morning, and from 
the west in the afternoon. Put asparagus, 
rhubarb, sweet herbs and other permanent vege- 
tables in a row at one side, so they may not 
interfere with the plowing of the rest of the 
garden. 
Plant vegetables of the same height together, 
so far as the tillage required will allow. Put 
the tall ones at the back, so as not to shade the 
others. If you have a-hedge, a building or a 
strip of woods as a windbreak on the side where 
the wind blows worst in winter, you will get 
vegetables a fortnight earlier in the spring, and 
probably a month later in the fall. The more 
protected the garden, the warmer the soil, 
and warm soil means quick and abundant re- 
turns. That is one reason why we use so much 
manure. It warms and quickens the soil. 
