April, i p i 6 
3 7 
prepare the beds is to excavate to a depth of 
at least 2', throwing the good soil to one 
side and the subsoil and gravel to the other. 
Break up the bottom with a pick, put in a 
6" layer of cobblestones, clean, hard cinders, 
coarse gravel or other drainage material, and 
over this soil thoroughly mixed with plenty of 
manure. Then finish off with 4" or 5" of 
clean, unmanured soil. This is the ideal bed, 
though many of the perennials will do well in 
poorer and shallower soil. 
A very generous amount of the coarsest 
bone should be worked down into the soil, as 
many of the perennials spread so quickly that 
there will be little chance to get well below the 
surface after the first year or two of growth. 
Though a number of the perennials require 
particular conditions of soil in order to reach 
their most perfect development, the majority 
of them may be grown satisfactorily in the 
same border under the same conditions. 
Plots for Small Fruits 
A T o old, worn-out soil can be expected to produce anything much more edible 
than two stone fences to the acre, unless you enrich it. See to it, therefore, 
that manure or other plant food is supplied 
In preparing the garden plot for small fruits, 
cane fruits, and the shrubbery border, it is 
often a common practice merely to dig a hole 
for each plant, applying the manure or ferti¬ 
lizer locally and letting the soil between go 
with little or indifferent treatment. This is 
always a great mistake. If it is possible, have 
all the soil in the patch plowed or spaded up 
thoroughly and manured and enriched. Plants 
of this character, after the first season, will derive as much 
benefit from plant food added to the soil in between them as 
from that in the immediate vicinity. Besides this, their roots 
will spread much farther and faster in the soil that has been 
freshly prepared and contains some available plant food, so 
that the feeding capacity of the individual plants will be very 
greatly enlarged. These are points which should never be over¬ 
looked, for they have a very direct bearing on the future sus¬ 
tained success of the planting. 
In the setting out of ornamental trees, fruit trees, hardy 
shrubs, single specimens and so forth, though it may not be 
practical to make more than a local preparation, dig out a 
hole several feet wide at the least, and for the large trees 
still wider. If the ground is heavy or the subsoil hard, a light 
charge of dynamite will work wonders in loosening up and 
in making possible for the trees a rapid, vigorous growth. 
Pre-Planting Care 
In spite of doing all that is possible in advance, ft frequently 
happens one’s plants cannot immediately be set out upon re¬ 
ceipt from the nurseryman. It is very important to keep them 
in such a way that they will not be injured during the interval 
between their arrival and the planting time. Even plants grow¬ 
ing in soil in flats may be seriously injured by a day’s neglect; 
the mere shock of moving them around and the breaking of 
such roots as may have reached through to the soil often cause 
them to wilt badly. Keep all plants in flats or pots in a place 
where they will be shaded from the direct sun, and water fre¬ 
quently; in sunny or windy weather, twice a 
day will usually be required to prevent them 
from getting dryer than they should. If plants 
in clay pots are to be kept more than a day or 
two, plunge them to the rim in loose soil. 
Plants that have been shipped from a dis¬ 
tance should be opened up immediately,, 
loosened up, if they have been pressed tightly 
together, and the roots examined; if they are 
beginning to get dry, give them as much water 
as they will readily absorb. This may be done 
by placing them temporarily in a shallow pan 
or tub and putting in a little water, or by 
saturating sphagnum moss similar to that 
packed around the roots and placing it close 
about them. Such plants should be kept in an 
airy shed or in a sheltered corner of the 
veranda, protected from the sun and wind. 
Shrubs, small fruit and similar nursery stock 
shipped with little or no soil on the roots 
should be unpacked and “heeled in” as soon as 
received. Just dig a narrow trench, a foot 
or so deep, and bury the roots in moist, fine 
soil sufficiently deep to cover them; for con¬ 
venience they are usually placed at an angle 
of 45° or so, close together. Plants that have 
been removed from the pots just before ship¬ 
ping and wrapped in paper to keep the root 
ball intact should be slipped into pots of simi¬ 
lar size, adding a little fresh soil if necessary 
and in this way kept for a week or two if 
watered frequently enough. 
The wheel-hoe is the garden cultivator’s ablest ally. It accomplishes more 
in half an hour than all the forks, hoes and spades you could operate, and 
is primarily a saver of labor and back muscles 
