MONEY IN THE GARDEN FOR BOY AND GIRL WORKERS. 



Now we are simply getting well ready for our work. 



Another thing to prepare for is some spot in the 

 home garden which we can call oitr garden, and 

 where we may transplant from hot-bed and cold- 

 frame such plants as we want to use for ourselves, 

 or those which are improved by several times trans- 

 planting. I hardly think there will be any difficulty 

 in getting your parents to consent to your having a 

 part of the garden, for now-a-days parents seem to 

 have more faith in the budding abilities of their chil- 

 dren than they did twenty, or even ten, years ago. 

 At the proper time, which will be when the soil is 

 nicely warmed by the sun and may be thrown up in 

 shape so that it may be worked, we may select our 

 portion of the home lot, choosing that which is high 

 and dry, yet warm and rather moist. There is a 

 vast difference between wet soil and one that is 

 moist. A wet soil would require to be under-drained, 

 which we do not want to do if it can possibly be 

 avoided. 



After removing all rubbish and stones from our 

 small plantation, we must prepare to enrich it. The 

 beginner should place his chief dependence on stable 

 manures until he or she can purchase the better and 

 cleaner high-grade chemical manures. 



The manure should be spread over the surface of 

 the soil to the depth of three or four inches, and then 

 spaded in, thoroughly mixing it with the soil. It is 

 a good plan, in order to make the soil friable, to 

 spade the bed over the second time, working in the 

 opposite direction from the first time. 



We are now in a fair way for the beginning of 

 our work of planting and caring for the young plants 

 when they peep out of the soil. In our next paper 

 we will show how to prepare the seed-bed when 



plants are to be started in the house, and give the 

 seasons for sowing all the seeds, so that we will 

 make no serious mistakes in this direction. 



It is interesting to know that our elders are more 

 willing than in the past to foster the growing ambi- 

 tions of youth even in this work of gardening. Here 

 is one evidence of a desire on the part of a wealthy 

 banker of New York to induce young folk to become 

 more familiar with nature. 



The gentleman in question, Edward D. Adams, 

 has an elegant summer residence near the ocean, in 

 the little town of Oceanic, N. J. The paths, roads 

 and terraces of his grounds are bordered with costly 

 plants each summer, and in such quantities that 

 they cannot well be wintered in his greenhouses. 

 The past fall he decided that there was some way to 

 do besides allowing them to l)e destroyed by frost, 

 so he sent an invitation for the children of the pub- 

 lic schools of Oceanic to visit his place. Each child 

 was presented with a plant, and told the object of 

 the giver. The gentleman's plan is this : Each child 

 shall care for his or her plant during the winter, and 

 in the spring there is to be a flower show, at which 

 prizes will be presented to those showing the finest 

 and best-kept plants. We may not attempt to esti- 

 mate the ultimate good which will result from this 

 plan. We only wish that more wealthy gentlemen 

 would conceive and carry out similar ones. To the 

 boys and girls of the present day we must look for 

 much of the good or bad of the future, and the sooner 

 our elders find out that boys and girls are good for 

 something besides to eat, drink, sleep and be merry, 

 the sooner will they sow the seed which will bring 

 forth desirable fruit. Geo. R. Knapp. 



(to be continued.) 



