April, 1906 
strips should be thick enough to stand the 
strain of the stringing without springing. 
Nails are driven into them for the twine to 
be stretched over. Such a support is much 
better than wire netting. 
Are you going to set asparagus this spring? 
Then be sure to do the work with a view to 
permanently successful results. Spade the soil 
to the depth of at least two feet, making a 
trench a foot wide. Arrange for drainage by 
putting something into the bottom that will 
not readily decay. Old cans, crockery, brick, 
mortar, gravel or crushed stone will answer 
the purpose. Over this spread some manure, 
pounding it down well. ‘Then fill the trench 
with soil to within six inches of the top. This 
should be worked over well and thoroughly 
manured. In this set the roots, letting their 
crowns come about five inches below the sur- 
face. ‘That is, plant them so that the crown 
will be that distance below the surface when 
all the soil taken from the trench has been re- 
turned to it. I would advise the use of two 
and three-year-old roots. 
Pie-plant is set to better advantage in 
spring than at any other season. Make the 
soil deep, mellow and rich, and keep weeds and 
grass away from the plants if you want them 
to do well. If you have established plants 
from which you would like early material for 
household use, set a headless barrel over a 
clump of it, and bank up about it with horse 
manure. Put a piece of hot-bed sash over 
the barrel, and in a short time you will have a 
tender growth of deliciously flavored stalks 
much superior to those produced by the plant 
later under natural conditions. 
A succession of radishes should be ar- 
ranged for. Have the soil very rich and 
mellow, and give the warmest, sunniest spot 
in the garden to this delicious vegetable. You 
can not hope for much success with it in a 
heavy soil, or a cold one. One containing a 
good deal of sand suits it best, and there must 
be manure enough, and warmth enough, to 
force it along rapidly if you would grow a 
crop with tender crispness and rich, nutty 
flavor. 
Every garden ought to be well supplied 
with “greens.” Spinach, beets and dandelion 
are all delicious when well grown and properly 
cooked. Spinach requires a quick, rich soil; 
in fact, all vegetables grown to be used as 
greens do, for in a soil of only moderate rich- 
ness their growth will be so slow that they will 
lack that tenderness and fine flavor which 
constitute their chief charm. 
It pays to cultivate the dandelion. Give it 
the care that you give spinach, and it will 
have a large, tender leaf, and something of the 
flavor of well blanched celery. When grown 
in this way, and bleached by placing boards 
about it, or covering it with straw, it makes 
a most toothsome salad, and is a good sub- 
stitute for celery. 
Do not set out plants from the hotbed until 
you are sure of warm, settled weather. One 
relapse to cold weather, such as we are quite 
likely to have at the North up to the first of 
May, often seriously injures the seedlings. 
and sometimes kills them outright. 
In buying seed, whether for vegetable or 
flower garden, always get the best. It will 
prove the cheapest in the long run. Steer clear 
of high-priced “novelties.” 
Sweet peas should be planted in April if 
possible. My method is this: I make a V- 
shaped trench about five inches deep. In this 
I sow the seed thickly. It ought not to be 
more than an inch apart. I cover with about 
an inch of soil, pressing it down firmly with 
the foot. When the young plants are about 
two inches high, I draw in an inch of soil 
about them, and I keep on doing this from 
time to time, until all the soil taken from the 
AMERICAN HOMES 
AND GARDENS 
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ibe wikeOx& WHITE COMPANY 
Established 1876 
MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, U.S. A. 
The Knabe-Angelus 
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