into the ground at the four corners, and string a cord about these 
stakes. The garden is now lined off, so that one may easily keep 
within bounds where he digs. 
The next step in garden-making is to dig up the soil. It 
should be dug up from six inches to one foot in depth. One foot 
is not a bit too deep for the digging, but some hard-packed soils 
are so difficult to work that it is well nigh impossible for any boy 
or girl to dig so deep as one foot. As the soil is turned over, 
pick out all the large stones; in fact, remove all stones. Then 
break up the lumps of soil with the back of your spade or fork. 
Next rake the soil over and over until it becomes fine. You 
cannot get it too fine. 
Soil should be good and rich for the plants. Part of the food 
materials that plants use is in the soil. It is wise to add some of 
these food materials to the soil in order that the plants may thrive. 
One of the very best sources of these materials is old rotted manure. 
If there is a stable near your home, see if the owner will give or sell 
to you some old manure. Be sure to ask for old manure, for if it 
is not well rotted it will be too fresh for garden use. When too 
fresh, the manure burns up the little seedling plants. Spread the 
manure, if you can get it, one or two inches thick over your gar- 
den plot, and spade this in. The soil should then be raked over, 
so that all traces of the manure are invisible to the eye. Street 
sweepings may be dug into the garden, but if the streets have 
been freshly oiled, this oil may injure the plants. If it is quite 
impossible to get any old manure, then buy a little commercial 
fertilizer. Any seed store has this fertilizer. Bone meal is very 
good for plants. When you buy commercial fertilizers, remember 
this, that they are very strong, and you will need but little. 
For a small garden, twelve feet by five or six feet, two pounds of 
commercial fertilizer are sufficient. Spread this over the surface 
of the ground and rake it in. 
As soon as you begin to garden, start a nice little compost or 
fertilizer pile for next year. On this pile dump all the old leaves 
you can gather, the lawn clippings, and any waste plant material. 
Put boards over the pile to hold it down, or sprinkle soil on the 
top. If the pile looks bad in a corner of your yard, just plant 
a few castor oil beans in front of it, and it is then well screened or 
