St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-04-23
MAKING A GARDEN
Simple DirectiOns-LOvely Combin-
atiOns-HOw Deep to Plant

atiOns-How Deep to Plant
(From Grace Tabor's "Gardenmak-
ing and Some of the Garden
Stories" in the May st. Nicholas
Whatever seed you SOW, put it
into the ground to a distance equal
to three times it's own greatest dia-
meter, or thickness, and no more.
That is, if a seed is an eighth of an
inch through, cover 1t with three
eighths of an inch of earth; but with
seeds that are themselves no larger
than dust grains, use a salt shaker
and sprinkle them lightly over the
space where they are to go, and
press them into the loose soil with a
fiat piece of board.
Water thoroughly, after preparing
it, the ground where seeds are to be
sown and the day before you intend
sowing them. Then it will be just
mellow enough and soft enough to
receive them and close over them
as it should. And keep the earth
Just moist enough all the time to
crumble apart in your hand after
squeezing, as / have explained to
you that loamy soil will DO. But
more important even that that just
the degree OF moisture is the same
degree constantly maintained. That
is, it must not be allowed to get very
dry, and then be- made very wet to
make up for, the neglect; keep it
Just as nearly as possible the same,
day in and day out. And shelter
the little plants from hard
rains until they are strong, big fell
lows. Some seeds sprout very
quickly; others take long time.
Sometimes the seed packet in which
they come will have printed on it
how long you must wait before ex-
pecting to see the green shoots be-
gin to break the their way through
earth.
If / were you, should plant now
a border of marigolds, with alyssum
for an edging. Prepare a sunny
space fifteen inches wide beside the
house or along a walk, and SOW
the marigolds in two rows, one two
inches from the back of the space,
and the other six inches from the
front. Drop the seed two or three
inches apart along little shallow
drills, which you can make with
with your finger or a pointed stick,
using a string stretched tight from
one end of the space to the other,
NAO0S " bAAC 6AOuAANs AOA q AAOA
to draw the line of the drill by.
After these are sowed, draw anoth-
er drill two inches from the front,
and into this drop the sweet alys-
sum seeds, an inch apart.
When the plants are well up,
thin out the marigolds until those
in each row are eight inches apart,
making the front ones come oppo-
site the spaces between the rear
ones so they stand Zig-zag. Thin
the alyssum too, so that the plants
are eight inches apart each one
standing in front of the rear
marigold plant. Get the alyssum
called Little Gen." and a packet
of mixed double marigolds, each
five cents; or, if you wish to spend
a little more, try a collection of six
kinds OF double French marigolds,
which may be had for 25 cents. From
either one and the alyssum you
will have a lovely border of white
and many shades of velvety gold,
lasting until frost comes in the
fall.
Other combinations which are
lovely are double blue corn flowers
grown } inches apart for the back,
with golden calliopsis inches apart
in front; large Towering snapdrag-
on, in pale pink or mixed colors, 8
inches apart for the back, with i'm
perial dwarf white ageratum,