The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-05-07
SEVENIL|TTLE GARDENS,
@1-~W 1TN7 Ia"W W @0 n 5@".4e1F - HT
May Day Having Come, II Is Time
for the Little Gardener to
Begin Work.
Consider the Tools You Will Need
and the Location Of
Your Beds.
Marking Ont tho Limits Of the Ground
ss1ented-rreparink tho Soil
Ready for Planting.

Written for THE HELENA INpEpENDnEr.1
@OW. SURPRISING I'll 10 BE THE
~ first of May. it ID time to bestir our
TX selves about your little gardens in
earnest.
First you must consider What tools you
will need. / should say that all that il alb
solutely necessary would be a spade, q hos,
a raks-ot these SEQ that you select those
that are light and easily to be h%andlel-a
trowel and a watering pot that will hold a
gallon of water.
II yeu can get G rubks. hand sprinkler i.
is 2 most useful thing, but you can do
without this.
I also find 4 short thrse-pronged hand
fork q delightful tool to use In breaking mp
the earth about the roots Of weeds, some of
which IRE so wide spreading and tenacious,
like clover and mallow for instance. that
they seem to have fastened themselves
about the neither milestone Of fable, IL IL 70
difficult TO disengage their hold. Once
loosened by the friendly little fork they
have to come up whether they will or no!
And let me say in passing, You must
never leave q bit of the root Of a weed in
the soil; if you do up II comes again all the
stronger, in most cases, for its fight; all
your troable will have been for nothing
If you do not remove it at once and thor
oughly.
Well, your tools being ready. you want
to select the sunniest nook at your
command for your garden and then begin
to prepare the earth for planting.
For very small gardens I should say a
bed our feet long by a foot n q half or
two feet wide would be about large enough.
But for older children two or three such
beds would not not be too much to care for.
q string four feet long to 9 stick. push this
firmly into the ground and gently draw the
string out its full length along the edge of
what is to be your little plot. Then tie the
loose end to another stick and push this
also into the ground, then the frightened
Do the same with q string two feet long for
the ends OF your beds and you will have
then an absolutely even edge, a neat and
tidy piece Of work and no Struggling. AL
low a little for trying your string so that
you won't make the bed any smaller than
you intend to. e4es
Some one must turn up the soil for you
with a garden fork and dig deeply INTO
every bad our feet long by two wide at
least half a bushel of well rotted'' barn
manure; il must be old enough to have lost
all odor and have become in itself a rich
DlNCk anu DEOWu VolVoty oATbus low ID
much better than horse manur which is
too heating in its character. This will
furnish the best nourishment for almost
any of the plants that are to grow in your
gardens,
OF course there are = few. like mignon-
cite, heliotrope. California p.oppies and
dwarf nasturtiums, that flourish best in
poor soil, but of these ] shall speak in their
turn.
After the bed il dug up and tho manure
worked thoroughly into it, then you may
begin to work.
First take the hoe and break up all the
Jumps of enrth. beat them and cut them
and pound them with tho hoe till they are
quite level and then you may begin with
the rake. #@%
Now, to rake the ground evenly is quite
an art. You must draw the rake lightly
through the surface of the soil and take
out every stone and stick and lump till the
ground is almost as light and smooth and
mellow as meal.
At first your rake will catch in this lump
and that. and you will find the ground will
Rrrange itself in uneven waves like the sea,
but never mind; psrssvere, hold the rake as
level with the surface as you can, work il
you and from you. and comb the soil with
iii; do it again and again till stones. sticks,
straws, in short all things that should not
be in it are faithfully removed. I keep a
basket or box into which / shovel these
rakings and carry them off to some waste
place, where they shall not offend the eye.
When the sec il as smooth and level as a
carpet, thon rake the earth at the edges
carefully to keep the shape of the bod even,
and be sure you do aot got the plot too high;
keep it as even a. you can with the rest OF
the ground. and then the moisture will not
drain ava from it and leave tho roots of
your flowers dry.
Now you are ready for planting.
MRS. CELIA THAxTER,