52 MAKING SEED AND FLOWER BEDS 
tower, and from the way the triangle appears to 
have lost its point by means of the new flower-bed, 
Little Joseph and I have learned that another im- 
portant matter in gardening is the outline of things. 
After Timothy had lifted out the sods of the 
curved bed, he dug down and threw out the earth 
to the depth of two feet. He then filled the whole 
bed half way up with manure, after which he alter- 
nated a layer of earth with one of manure, until 
it was filled level with the ground. Even after 
all this was done, he went to the woods and brought 
back a quantity of rich, black earth to put on as a 
top-dressing. This made the bed higher than the 
grass of the triangle, which, however, did not mat- 
ter, since it would sink as the manure packed down. 
I suppose all our other flower-beds will be made 
in this same way. Miss Wiseman has told Joseph 
over and over again that it is useless to try and 
grow fine flowers unless the soil is properly pre- 
pared. Perhaps some of his seeds would come up 
if he had just planted them in the unenriched soil, 
and perhaps they would also bear flowers; but it is 
not likely that these flowers would be large and 
strong and do themselves justice. Miss Wiseman 
says that no boy or girl would try to raise a kitten 
or a puppy without giving it proper care and food. 
Flowers, too, must be cared for and fed. Their 
diet, we have now found, is rich soil, water and 
sunshine, and it is the duty of gardeners to provide 
the first two of these. The good sunshine visits 
