PREPARING THE SOIL

All this may seem like a lot of trouble to go to for such a small thing
as a packet of seed. In reality it is not nearly so much trouble as it
sounds, and then, too, this is for the first season only, a well built
frame lasting for years--forever, if you want to take a little more
time and make it of concrete instead of boards.
But now that the frame is made, how to use it is the next question.
The first consideration must be the soil. It should be rich, light,
friable. There are some garden loams that will do well just as taken
up, but as a rule better results will be obtained where the soil is
made up specially as follows: rotted sods two parts, old rotted manure
one part, and enough coarse sand added to make the mixture fine and
crumbly, so that, even when moist, it will fall apart when pressed into
a ball in the hand. Such soil is best prepared by cutting out sod, in
the summer, where the grass is green and thick, indicating a rich soil.
Along old fences or the roadside where the wash has settled will be
good places to get limited quantities. Those should be cut with
considerable soil and stacked, grassy sides together, in layers in a
compost pile. If the season proves very dry, occasionally soak the heap
through. In late fall put in the cellar, or wherever solid freezing
will not take place, enough to serve for spring work under glass. The
amount can readily be calculated; soil for three sash, four inches
deep, for instance, would take eighteen feet or a pile three feet
square and two feet high. The fine manure (and sand, if necessary) may
be added in the fall or when using in the spring. Here again it may
seem to the amateur that unnecessary pains are being taken. I can but
repeat what has been suggested all through this book, that it will
require but little more work to do the thing the best way as long as
one is doing it at all, and the results will be not only better, but
practically certain--and that is a tremendously important point about
all gardening operations.