The proper balance must
be kept in the garden as well as in society; and therefore it is
important to cover our plants with something that will not
speedily become a usurper. Let it be a settled point, then, that
the narrow rows must be covered thoroughly out of sight with some
light material which will not rest with smothering weight on the
plants or leave among them injurious seeds. Light stable-manure is
often objected to for the reason that employing it is like sowing
the ground with grass-seed. If the plants had been allowed to grow
in matted beds, I would not use this material for a winter
covering, unless it had been allowed to heat sufficiently to
destroy the grass and clover seed contained in it. I have seen
matted beds protected with stable-manure that were fit to mow by
June, the plants and fruit having been over run with grass. No
such result need follow if the plants are cultivated in a single
line, for then the manure can be raked off in early spring--first
of April in our latitude--and the ground cultivated. There is a
great advantage in employing light manure if the system I advocate
is followed, for the melting snows and rains carry the richness of
the fertilizer to the roots, and winter protection serves a double
purpose.
We will now consider the proper management for the second year,
when a full crop should be yielded.
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