Ground that has been worked in some cultivated farm crop, such as
corn or potatoes, is more desirable for starting a garden than fresh
sod land, as it is more easily brought into fine condition in the
early spring; while grass is one of the hardest weeds to exterminate,
especially among small hoed crops, such as strawberries, onions, beets,
etc. Sod land is also often full of grubs, which work havoc among the
strawberry plants and young melon and squash vines. In either new
ground or in the old established garden, it will be of great advantage
to put the long, coarse manure on the ground in the fall, and plow it
well under as soon as the ground can be cleared of the summer crops.
The soil should be left just as it is plowed, without harrowing,
leaving the lumps and ridges to the action of the frost. This will be
found of especial benefit to heavy soils that are late in drying in the
spring; it also adds a great deal to the appearance and cleanliness of
the garden, as the weeds, old stalks, etc., are all cut off and burnt
before plowing, instead of being left to scatter their seeds with every
winter wind.
The gases arising from the decaying of the coarse manure in the soil
tend to lighten it, instead of being wasted in the air, as is the case
when the manure is in heaps or in the barnyard. By plowing-time in
the spring the manure will have assimilated with the soil and will be
thoroughly worked through the cultivated surface, thus affording food
for the crops in all stages. If such manure is applied in the spring,
it will make dry or thin soil still drier, and unless plowed well
under, where it would take the roots a long time to reach it, will
burn the young plants up if the season should happen to be a dry one.
The great value of compost in starting young plants is that it affords
rich food in proper form for the tender young rootlets, enabling the
young plants to make a quick, tender growth, which is very essential if
vegetables of fine quality are desired. By fall manuring and plowing
the whole garden is composted, while the action of the frost on the
lumps and ridges pulverizes them, leaving the soil in a fine, friable
condition.