Evening star., 1915-02-28
BAN AND COUNTRY LIFE PAGE


ernoon. The lay of the Landscape. di-
rection of drainage. etc.-will have to
be considered. of course. IL should
be planned always to have the rows
run as nearly as possible at right
angles with the natural slope of the
ground. SO as to avoid washing and
outlying after "A hard rainfall
Too much emphasis cannot be placed
on the necessity for blowing or spsd-
ing as deeply possible and harrow
ing or rakinE the soil into as fine CON
dition as it can be made. This, II need
hardly be explained. Is for the double
and to conserve the moisture OF the
SOIL. The whole secret of the so-called
dry farming in the arid regions of the
west is the working of the top soil
thus maintaining a dust mulch which
keeps the soil moisture from evapo-
rating.
Plan your garden on paper before a
seed or plant is put into tho ground.
work the plan out in detail: mako a
pencil sketch OF the entire garden To-
eating every row. every bed. and Indi-
eating just what is 10 ne sown or
whether it be large or small 60 oyer
this plan several times. making the
changes that suggest themselves, until
.ne e hnal arrangement of the whole
"a
cream sketch of the garden and work
70 that plan. never deviating from it.
system In garden work. as in anything
hsx.-5 hise; 6rihgs hs, better results than hap
variabiy results in a hodge podge sf-
fair. In which weeds have about ae
much space as the real crops
A garden so planned, IL the plan in
followed religiously, will be one in
which any one may Justly take pride:
!. VIII also be more productive-in
ac.uai crops as well as in personal sat-
isfaction--than disorganized con-
glomeratfon of irregularly shaped he'd.
ana zigzag rows that neither pleaee
the eye nor produce anything like the
maximum results.
Every gardener should grow h;s ov,
''iia'o ana cabbage plants: in this way
alone can there
Most Satisfactory. daat. anat the garden
rieties desired. Not only tomato and
cabbage plants, but peppers, cauli-
Hover and brussels sprouts In fact.
all vegetables which must be started
In hats and set out when all danger OF
frost is past can be grown in any
room that has a sunny window
Seeds for these vegetables should bs
sown as soon possible if the plants
are to attain proper size by the time
Tor setting them out. All of them
should be started not later than the
first part of March
A rather light sandy loan is the best
SOIL IN which to grow the plants The
soil should be at least three inches
deep in the flats. four inches is better
Garden soil which has been dried until
II pulverizes easily makes good foun-
dation soil. When it is dry enough to
pass 1T through medium fine sand
screen or sieve put the soil through
this process. removing from il all bits
OF sticks. weed burrs. pebbles and
stones. Mix with the pulverized soil
sufficient quantity of dried. pulyeriZed
sheep manure, such as may he bought
in packages already prepared at any
seedsmans or florists. A pound of the
dried manure to a bushel of sifted soil
should be about right. Mix the two
thoroughly. and when they are we'll
mixed moisten the soil slightly, using
a sprinkling can. This may be repeat
ed daily for three or four days, mixing
the soil thoroughly each time.
Fill the flats to within half an inch
of the tops. These flats may be any
kind of shallow box or trap. three and
a half to four inches deep, two feet
wide and two and half feet long.
theSe-eXcept the depth-being approx
innate dimensions.
When the flats are filled and the earth
shaken and smoothed down mark the
surface off in rows about three inches
piece of yardstick or other straight
edge to mark by. Make a furrow u
quarter of inch deep, and in this
SOW the seeds, sowing thickly; as the
plants come up they may be thiuned
out to the proper spacing, removing
the smaller and weaker appearing ones
and allowing only the strongest to re-
main. Cover the seeds with quarter
of an inch of soil. packing it down SO
that they are all covered firmly. Moist
en- the soil from the small sprinkling
can and place the fiat in q sunny win
dow.
AS the plants grow, thin them out as
directed above; also water them daily
giving enough water to keep the soil
moist, but never muddy. Turn the fiat
daily. so that each side will receive the
sunshine. This keeps the plants from
growing one-Sided.
When they are a couple of inches high
lift the plants out of the soil. being
careful as possible not to bruise or un-
duly disturb the rootlets and replanr.
moving the rows over an inch say. At
this time il will be well to thin them out
again. This gives the plants more room.
makes a better root growth and helps to
produce stronger and thriftier plants.
By the latter part of April the plants
should be six to ten inches high. with
strong growth. and in the case Of toma-
toes, their third leaves should be forned
They are then ready TO set out if II ay,-
pears that danger Of killing frosts 10
past-which Is usually the case in this
section. Set the plants out in the hat.
afternoon. Prepare holes for them, using
a dibble: pour at least a pint of water
into each hole around the roots OF the
plants, and firm the soil down well. So
handled the plants should suffer no set
back whatever. but should grow right
ahead. II may be necessary to shield
tender tomato or cabbage plants from the
hot sun for a day or So after that time.
however. they will require nothing hut
proper cultivation.
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