Daddy Takes Us to the Garden Part 6

"Well a harrow is something like a big rake," explained Daddy Blake.

"There are three kinds of harrows, but they don't often use more than one kind for a garden. The man will use a tooth harrow. It is called that because it is made of iron spikes, or teeth, driven through some long beams of wood. The teeth stick through and when they are dragged over the plowed ground they make it quite smooth. When I take you to the farm I can tell you about and show you other kinds of harrows or big rakes."

It took the man with the plow the rest of the day to turn over the soil in the Blake garden, and Hal and Mab looked on every minute they had out of school. Mr. Porter's garden, next door, was plowed too.

When Hal and Mab went to the fence to see how Mr. Porter's ground looked they saw little Sammie standing near. The red-haired boy was looking at something on the ground.

"What is it?" asked Hal.

"Big snake," was the answer. "I don't like a snake. I'm goin' home," and he started to run.

"Oh, a snake!" cried Mab. "I don't like snakes either;" and she turned to go away.

"Where's the snake, Sammie? Show me!" said Hal.

"See him crawlin'?" and red-haired Sammie pointed. "I guess he goin' to bite! I run!" and away he started, but he fell down on the rough ground.

He did not cry, however, but picked himself up and kept on.

"That isn't a snake!" called Hal with a laugh, "It's only a big angle worm. That won't hurt you, Sammie! Don't be afraid."

"Dat no snake?" the little boy wanted to know.

"No. Only a fish worm. Don't you remember how we went fis.h.i.+ng with Daddy, Mab?" asked her brother.

"Yes, I do. But I thought it was a snake."

Hal had jumped over the fence and picked up the worm. It was a large one and had been crawling about the newly-plowed field.

"Oh, I don't like 'em," said Mab with a little s.h.i.+ver.

"Worms are good," said Mr. Porter coming out into his garden.

"You mean good for fis.h.i.+ng?" asked Hal

"Yes, and good for gardens, too. They wiggle through the ground and sort of chew it up so it does not get so hard. The earth around the roots of trees and plants ought to be kept loose and dug up so the air and water can get through easier. So worms in a garden help to make the plants grow."

"I didn't know that," said Hal, as he put down the big worm, which at once began to crawl slowly along, stretching itself out until it was almost twice as big as at first.

In a few days the weather was much warmer, and the soil in the two gardens began to dry out. The man came with the spiked, or tooth, harrow, and his horses dragged this over the ground several times. Soon the soil was quite smooth, the big lumps or clods of earth being broken up into little fine chunks.

"But it must be finer yet for some things, like lettuce and tomatoes,"

said Mr. Blake. "So I'll use a hand rake."

"Can't we help too?" Hal wanted to know.

"Yes, I want you and Mab to do as much garden work as you can. In that way you'll understand how to make things grow. And remember the more you work around in the garden, digging up the earth above the roots of your plants, keeping the weeds cut down, the better your things will grow. Making a garden is not easy work, but, after all think what a wonderful lot the seeds and plants do for themselves. Still we must help them."

"When can I plant my beans?" asked Mab.

"Well, pretty soon now. Make your part of the garden, where you are going to plant your beans, as smooth as you can. Then mark it off into rows. You should plant your beans in rows with the rows about two feet apart, and put the beans in each row so they are about four inches, one from the other. That will give the plants room enough to spread."

"How do I plant my corn?" asked Hal.

"Well, corn must be planted a little differently from beans," answered Daddy Blake. "You should have your rows from two to three feet apart and each hill of corn should be from a foot to a foot and a half from the next hill."

"Does corn only grow on a hill?" asked Hal.

"Oh, no," laughed his father, "though on some farms and gardens the corn may be planted on the side of a hill. What I mean was that after your corn begins to grow, the ground is hoed around the corn stalks in a sort of little hill. That is done to keep it from blowing over, for corn grows very tall, in the West sometimes ten and twelve feet high.

"However that is yellow or field corn, from which corn meal is made. The kind you are going to plant, Hal, is called sweet corn, such as we eat green from the cob after it is boiled. That may not grow so high. But in a day or so it will be time for your corn and beans to be planted, for Spring is now fully here and the weather is warm enough."

Hal and Mab worked hard in their gardens. They raked the ground until it was quite smooth. Daddy Blake, his wife, Aunt Lollypop and Uncle Pennywait also raked and smoothed the parts of the garden where they were going to plant their seeds. Sometimes the older folks helped the children.

Next door Mr. Porter was planting his garden, and red-haired Sammie thought he was helping. At least he picked up the stones and threw them at the fence. If Roly-Poly had been there maybe Sammie would have thrown the stones for the little poodle dog to run after. But Roly had been sent away for a few weeks, until the gardens had begun to grow. For Roly never could see a nicely smoothed patch of ground without wanting to dig in it, and spoil it.

"We'll bring him back when the garden things are larger and well-enough grown so he can not hurt them," said Daddy Blake.

Hal and Mab planted their corn and beans. Daddy Blake showed his little girl how to punch holes in the brown earth along a straight row which her father made with the rake handle, and into the holes she dropped the beans, covering them with earth so that they were about two inches down from the top. Hal's corn did not have to be planted quite so deep, and he dropped five kernels in a circle about as large around as a tea-saucer.

This circle would, a little later, be hoed into one big hill of corn.

"How long before my beans will grow?" asked Mab.

"And my corn?" Hal wanted to know.

"Well, beans begin to grow almost as soon as they are in the ground,"

answered her father, "but you can't see them until about a week. Then the little leaves appear. Hal's corn will take longer, maybe ten days, before any green shows. You must be patient."

Hal and Mab tried to be, but each day they went out in the garden and looked at where they had planted their beans and corn in the garden rows.

"I don't believe they're EVER going to grow," said Mab at last. "Maybe some worms came and took my seeds. I'm going to dig some up and look."

"Don't," begged Hal.

But Mab did. With a stick she poked in the earth until she saw something that made her call:

"Oh, Hal! Look. My beans are all swelled up like a sponge."

Hal looked, Mab had dug up one bean. It had swelled and split apart, and inside the two halves of the bean something green showed.

"Oh, Mab! Cover it up, quick!" he cried. "The beans are growing--they're sprouting! Cover it up, quick!"

And Mab did. Now she was sure her beans were growing.

Two mornings afterward she went out into her part of the garden before starting for school. She saw something very queer.

"Oh, Daddy! Hal!" cried the little girl "My beans were planted wrong!

They're growing upside down! The beans are all pushed upside down out of the ground. Oh, my garden is spoiled!"