PETER j HENDERSON &> CO,~IHTROOUCTORY. 



3. a 



A FEW BRIEF DIRECTIONS 

 IN SELECTING SOILS, DRAINING, MANURING AND GENERAL PREPARATION OF THE LAND FOR THE 



SOWING AND CULTURE OF VEGETABLE SEEDS 



By PETER HENDERSON. 



SOILS. 



To get the best results from seeds sown in the Vegetable Garden, the condition of the soil, when selection 

 cau be made, is of the first importance. Whenever choice can be made always select soils having a saud or 

 gravel for the subsoil — that is, the soil that usually lays 10 or 12 inches below the top soil. The top soil is Usually 

 darker than the subsoil, and should be what is known as sandy loam. It is not to be expected that the amateur 

 in gardening can judge what is suitable soil, but there is a rule that will always guide him safely. Wherever 

 good farm crops of corn, hay or potatoes are produced such soil will always answer for nearly all kinds of 

 vegetable crops. 



DRAINAGE 



Is hardly ever necessary if the subsoil is of gravel or sand, that is natural drainage ; but should the subsoil be of 

 stiff clay, such as brick could be made from, then, to get good results, drainage must be resorted to, for no 

 matter how fertile the natural condition of the soil may be, or how well it is manured, if water remain in the 

 soil at the depth to which the roots penetrate, no good crop can ever be raised until the water is drained off. 

 The best material for draining is drain tiles, if they can be obtained conveniently, but when they cannot an 

 excellent substitute can be had by using boards. Take rough pine or hemlock boards, cut them into widths of 

 three or four inches and nail them together so as to form a triangle, taking care to break the joints in nailing the 

 boards together. These drains are usually set with the flat side down, but they will drain better if put with a 

 point down. 



Drains should never be less than three feet below the surface, and not less than 20 feet apart. The more 

 fall they have, of course the quicker will be the drainage, though very little fall will answer ; 1 foot in 200 will 

 answer very well if the drains are carefully laid. 



MANURING. 



There are few soils where vegetables can be well grown without the use of manure, unless in deep prairie lands 

 or in lands reclaimed from the forests where the vegetable matter is still abundant in the soil; but ordinarily, in 

 nine cases out of t j n, where vegetables are grown in private gardens manure is a necessity. The best, when- 

 ever it can be obtained, is well rotted stable manure, either from cows or horses, put on at the rate of one ton, or 

 an ordinary wagon load, for every 500 square feet— that is, for every space 20x25 feet, when it is to be used 

 broadcast. When used in hills, as for melons or tomatoes, or in rows, as for potatoes, one-sixth of the quantity 

 will answer. When Commercial Fertilizers are used, such as guano, bone dust or superphosphates, the best rule 

 for quantity is to sow the fertilizer on the surface of the soil (after it has been dug or plowed), about thick 

 enough to just color the surface, or about as thick as sand or saw-dust is usually strewn on a floor, and then 

 thoroughly chopped in with a rake or digging fork so as to mix it thoroughly with the soil, for if it comes in 

 contact with the seed or roots in large quantities it will injure them. 



IN PREPARING THE GROUND 



For the reception of seeds be careful to see that it is sufficiently dry before you begin. Thousands every sea-on, 

 in their hurry to get to work to "make garden," begin working the soil before it has become sufficiently dry and 

 warm, and often failure, complete or partial, is due solely to that cause. No date can be given at which to 

 begin operations, as the locality, the nature of the soil, and other conditions would make any date an unsafe 

 guide. The safest plan is to notice when experienced farmers and market gardeners begin to plow in your 

 vicinity — it will then be safe to begin operations. In this vicinity the ground is usually dry enough to work from 

 the 5th to the 20th of April. To the south earlier, of course ; to the north, later. 



GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 



Before seed should be sown the ground should he dug with the digging fork to a depth of 7 or 8 inches, being 

 careful to break and pulverize it as thoroughly as possible. Dig so that the surface be as level as can be, using 

 the steel rake to smooth the surface after digging. Nearly all crops are best grown by being sown in drills or 

 rows, which are made by stretching the line ti°;ht and making a drill by the draw hoe to the depth necessary for 

 the kind of seed to be sown or planted. For peas or beans the drill should be about three inches deep, while for 

 small se?ds, such as spinach, onion or carrot, one to two inches deep is sufficient. But in every case, unless the 

 ground is very damp, after sowing the seed in the drill it should be pressed down with the foot enough so as to 

 moderately compact it into the soil, then with the back of a rake draw the soil lengthways of the row and then 

 pat it with the back of a spide or use a small roller if you have one, the object being to exclude the air from 

 penetrating into and drying up the seeds before the- start to grow. For more full details of this most important 

 matter see article on "The Use of the Feei in Sowing and Planting," in our book, "Garden and Farm Topics." 



