A long narrow mass shows their beauty

April, 1904 (concluded)

Flowers

Dig and fertilize the beds so that they are in order for May planting. There are few flower seeds or plants which it is safe to put out before then; sweet peas being the one delightful exception of my experience. A long narrow mass shows their beauty to the greatest advantage. We have a bed two feet wide running diagonally between the front and back lawn, from which blossoms are to be gathered all through the summer. Select the desired position, and have one foot of the surface soil removed. Then scatter a heavy covering of old barnyard manure, to be dug in to the depth of another foot. Replace the soil previously removed, mix in more manure, so that when finished the bed is well enriched and broken to the depth of two feet. The seeds are best pushed into the soil, two inches below the surface and half an inch apart, patting down the top very firmly. This may all seem a great deal of trouble, but sweet peas positively will not flourish in poorly prepared beds. A really good galvanized trellis, ten feet long, with stakes at the end and in the middle, can be bought for 75 cents; or straight, medium thin cedar poles and chicken wire can be utilized.

Peonies, shrubs, and all established plants must be dug round and fertilized before the 15th of the month.

The barn

With the first days of April the grass commences to spring, and it will benefit the cow to get out into the pasture from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon; but not until the 15th of the month is it wise to commence cutting down stall rations. From that date noon feed can be omitted, and night and morning gradually decreased, until by the 1st of May she depends entirely on the pasture.

Next: May, 1904