A bed managed in this way will give two full crops, and should then be spaded or plowed down, a new one having been in the meantime prepared to take its place.
FIELD CULTURE.
The same directions with regard to soil, time of planting, protection, and mulching, as given above, are applicable when planting on a large scale.
The Matted Row System.--The mode of growing usually pursued has its advantages for field culture, but cannot be recommended for the garden. In the field we usually plant in rows three to four feet apart, and the plants a foot to a foot and a half apart in the row. In this case much of the labor is performed with the horse and cultivator.
How to Ascertain the Number of Plants Required for an Acre.--The number of plants required for an acre, at any given distance apart, may be ascertained by dividing the number of square feet in an acre (43,560) by the number of square feet given to each plant, which is obtained by multiplying the distance between rows by the distance between the plants. Thus strawberries planted three feet by one foot give each plant three square feet, or 14,520 plants to the acre.
SOME HARDY FLOWERS FOR MIDSUMMER.
Pretentious gardens are now gayly decorated with glowing masses of pelargoniums and vincas, belts of rich coleuses and fiery alternantheras, patchwork of feverfew and mesembryanthemum, and scroll-work of house leeks, but amid this gay checkering it is wonderful how few flowers there are for cutting for bouquets. As tender plants, except the few that may have been wintered in windows and cellars, are beyond the reach of most of our country folks, I will consider those only that are perfectly hardy and in full blossom now, July 21.
Koempfer's irises, blue, white, purple, streaked, marbled, and otherwise variegated, are in bloom; they are the grandest of their race, and as different varieties succeed one another, they may be had in bloom from June till August. They are easily raised from seed or by division--prefer rich, moist land, and if in a partly shaded place, their blossoms last longer than in full sunshine.