PLANTING 
89 
all the stones, big and little, and in crumbling the last ob- 
stinate lumps. For a lump of earth, which invariably ties up 
a supply of food, may be regarded in the light of an invest- 
ment. A perfectly safe investment this, but certainly not an 
available one ; and on that account many a plant, just for the 
need of a little ready food, may actually starve to death. 
Thoroughly crumbling the lump would have saved the plant- 
let’s life. " Fining soil,” writes an expert, ” may be equal to 
fertilizing it.” Indeed, the ideal soil texture has been de- 
scribed as resembling nothing so much as soft, black soot. 
Fortunately, if sufficient pains is taken, even very ordinary soil 
can be brought to that high pitch of refinement. It happened 
not long ago that some schoolboys listened with a good deal 
of interest to a discussion upon this subject, but shrugged 
their shoulders at the thought of descending to such petty 
methods. Still they did not feel quite satisfied without test- 
ing the matter for themselves. So they smuggled from home 
an old bread sieve and pulverized one little patch till the earth 
that passed through was as fine and soft as flour. Then they 
"raced ” two sets of plants, growing one set in lumpy clods 
and the other in this superfine material. As a result the 
records of the second lot ran so far ahead of the first, in size 
and strength, as to make sifting all the rage in this school. 
At last, through infinite pains, the ground, let us suppose, 
is right ; the seeds are right ; it only remains now for us to 
" put them in right.” Just two points are to be kept in mind : 
the distance apart and the depth. There is, no doubt, a right 
depth for every seed, if we but knew it. For many of the 
commonest seeds experienced gardeners have worked out cer- 
tain general rules, which, for convenience, are recorded in a 
planting table. ^ The depth at which they are placed makes 
all the difference in the world to some seeds, while to other 
1 See Appendix. 
