Not only does humus help with the matter of food, but it holds moisture in the soil, and in some almost magic way makes other plant food into a form which the plant can use. Of course, you wish to give your plants the best kind of food, and of course you will want humus. But suppose you cannot readily get stable manure, or leaf mold from the woods, why then, you can make humus. Every day the very things you need to make humus may be going to waste. TO MAKE A COMPOST HEAP Save all the vegetable tops, leaves, grass, etc. Pile them up and let them decay. When decayed, they are humus. Another way to make a compost heap is to dig grass sods about eight inches square, and make them into a pile about two feet high, with layers of earth and manure between, and let stand in the weather to decay. Turn over when decayed. When wanted for use, cut some down, knock apart and spread. You have heard of sowing rye or oats, and “ploughing the crop under” to enrich the soil; this makes humus out of the green rye or oats and their roots. The plant baby and big plants, too, need many different kinds of food, but the most important is humus. FOOTNOTE: [C] Manure should be well rotted, otherwise plants cannot make use of it, for they must have food that has been “broken down,” so that the plant roots can take up what they need. Manure that is rotted has been piled up and left out in the weather with a board or two for cover to shed water. The pile has been turned over once a month, and dampened when dry. CHAPTER XIV HOW TO PLANT “OH, yes,” continued Billy “I’m going to tell you how the plants eat, and why they are so fond of plant-food soup, and why they like bones (of course, for soup! that is right); but I think you would prefer that story later on, and would rather talk now about— GARDEN TOOLS The best small garden tools are a “Ladies’ Set,” for they are strong and yet small and pleasant to handle. A fork for digging; a rake and a hoe and a “cultivator” are necessary. TO DIG UP THE GARDEN 1. Drive the fork down into the ground, with your left foot on top of the prongs, and lift the clod of earth high enough to turn over. 2. After dropping it, “spank” it apart into little lumps and dust. Commence this work at the back of the garden, and step backward over the untouched earth, until you have covered the entire plot. Begin at the left-hand corner “A” and across to the right. In this way, you will not step on the loosened soil, nor pack it down. Of course, in large fields, this work is done with a plow. [Illustration: SPADING THE GARDEN] TO PREPARE THE SOIL 1. Spread humus or manure, or both, all over the surface and dig it in, in the same manner in which you first dug up the garden, if you wish to be entirely certain of having success.