Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial402dodg).pdf/703

1913.] you can put leaves on first and hold them down with a lite manure sprinkled onto them afterward. Remember, though, that the reason they are so particularly good as a blanket is because they do not lie close together, and consequently do not retain water. Be sure, therefore, that you do nothing in anchoring them to pack them down.

This winter blanket is really a great deal more than a protective covering to keep the cold in, and the warmth out, of the ground. You know, when you walk through the woods, how deep and “springy” the ground feels under your feet. That is because every year, for more years than you can count, the trees have shed their leaves and themselves blanketed the earth above their roots; and then, when spring has come, no one has been there to take the blanket away, so gradually it has fallen to pieces, and sifted down and made way for next year’s covering, This is really exactly what ought to happen to the garden beds, for there is nothing better for all kinds of plants than the humus which broken-up leaves become—as you will remember learning earlier. So, instead of putting on a blanket which must be taken off in spring (as hay or straw or even manure, unless it is very fine and well rotted), it is better to put on one that may be left. Oak leaves will take care of themselves, and fine manure may be forked under in spring; so I advise these.

The little plants from the seed-bed will he large enough to transplant into their permanent places by the middle of the month, so, of course, the permanent places must be made ready for them at once. If you are going to make a garden entirely of perennials, and are beginning it anew and apart from the summer garden or border of annuals, here is a little plan which you may like to follow. You will find it much easier to decide where each thing shall go by making a map of the garden first, and planting cach thing on paper. This you can take out of doors afterward, and transfer the plan to the ground very easily, if you will get some one to measure for you two strips of wood about three feet long—or perhaps you can do it for yourself. A common yardstick will be just the thing for one, of course; if you have this, take another strip, equally light and easily handled, if possible, and cut it to the yard length, marking it off into three equal parts of one foot each.

The little plan, you see, has marks crisscrossing it. Each of the squares made by these crisscross marks represents one square foot. These one-foot squares laid off on the diagram are to be laid off on the ground, either with heavy twine stretched lengthwise and crosswise between stakes driven a foot apart on the ends and sides of the garden plot, or by means of the pair of sticks I have told you about, which may he laid down upon the ground, crossed to form one-foot squares (marked at the corners by stakes driven firmly into the ground), and moved as needed. Set the plants into these squares as the plan shows. It is not necessary to measure the distances between them if you locate them in this way, for if they are not exact it does not matter. Each group of plants is indicated by a special sign, which corresponds to that given in the list below. You will find it very easy to get them in the proper places if you lay out the entire space before you begin planting. Spade up the flower space, then take one square at a time, beginning at the upper left-hand corner, and work straight across to the right. Cross out with pencil each