The Kind of Garden 
7 
The earth in the garden should always 
be fine — as fine and mellow as it can be 
made — with plenty of manure, broken into 
very small particles, mixed through it by 
turning both over together, again and 
again, with a spading-fork. If it is at 
all stiff, which will make it inclined to 
cake on top after a rain, mix an extra 
quantity of the manure into the upper 
inch of it, to overcome this tendency ; and 
add sand also, if it is available. And then 
let nothing rob the beds and borders of 
the attention they require twice a week at 
least, all summer, and always the day 
after every rain — that is, the gentle sur- 
face tilling that keeps a loose, light blanket 
of dry earth — dust — on top of the ground, 
to hold the moisture in the depths, where 
the plant roots have gone in search of it. 
Whatever the plants to be used, whether 
annual or perennial, this same thorough 
preparation of the soil is necessary; and 
slighting it at all will diminish the gar- 
den’s chances of success in just a propor- 
tionate degree. In gardening it is espe- 
cially true that well begun is half done, but 
do not forget that there is another half. 
