CHAPTER III 
SPADEWORK 
Soil — Cultivation — Fertilizers — Right time for planting — 
— Division in spring to prolong blooming period — 
Staking-— Tying, etc. 
The perfect soil is good rich friable loam, and 
how rarely does one find it ! If one has the 
great good fortune to be able to turn a field 
or portion of a field of old pasture-land into 
borders for herbaceous plants, how well and 
cleanly do they grow, and how the sight of 
the clean friable loam rejoices the heart of the 
lucky possessor, who perhaps has hitherto 
been doing his best with some sticky, worn- 
out garden soil. In fresh, turfy loam manure 
is not needed in such quantities, and it merely 
wants a careful supervision for wireworms. 
If carnations and pinks are to be grown, gas- 
lime, or one of the worm destroyers, such as 
vaporite, should be used, though traps of 
potato, carrot, etc., may be set at night and 
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