222 



GARDENING FOR PLEASURE. 



GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS. 



In concluding the section of this book devoted to veg- 

 etable growing, we will give a few general instructions 

 that may have been omitted in the details already given. 

 In sowing all kinds of seeds, more particularly those of 

 small size, be careful, if the soil is dry, to "firm" or 

 press down the surface of the bed or row after sowing, 

 with a light roller or back of a spade, more especially if 

 the weather is beginning to get warm. Crops are often 

 lost through the failure of the seeds to germinate, for 

 the simple reason that the soil is left loose about the tiny 

 seeds, and the dry atmosphere penetrates to them, shriv- 

 eling them up until all vitality is destroyed. Again for 

 the same reason, when setting out plants of any kind, be 

 certain that the soil is pressed close to the root. In our 

 large plantings in market gardening, particularly in sum- 

 mer, we make it a rule in dry weather to turn back on 

 the row after planting it with the dibber or trowel, and 

 press the earth firmly to each plant with the foot ; we 

 have seen whole acres of celery and cabbage plants lost, 

 solely through neglect of this precaution. Never work 

 the soil while it is so wet as to clog, better wait a week 

 for it to dry than to stir it if wet. In no work in which 

 men are engaged is the adage, "A stitch in time saves 

 nine," more applicable than to the work of the farm or 

 garden. The instant that weeds appear, attack them 

 with the hoe or rake ; do not wait for them to get a 

 foot high, or a twelfth part of it, but break every inch of 

 the surface crust of the ground just so soon as a germ of 

 weed growth shows itself. And it will be better to do it 

 even before any weeds show, for by using a small sharp 

 steel rake, two or three days after your crop is planted 

 or sown, you will kill the weeds just as their seeds are 

 germinating. The newly developed germ of the strongest 

 weed is at that time very tender. In my market garden 



