THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE 



ii 



And not only did the wee children 

 show great interest in the Eggshell 

 Garden, but many others, of older 

 growth, made regular visits to the then 

 novel experiment. And one day — the 

 day of the transplanting of the nastur- 

 tiums — three ladies insisted on seeing 

 all there was to be seen, and so, one 

 nasturtium was taken, by the scuff of 

 its neck, and pulled out of its sawdust 

 bed, and its curled up roots spread out, 

 and washed in running water, 

 and handed around by those three lad- 

 ies, while the pot of earth was being 

 prepared. Punching a hole in the pot 

 of poor earth the nasturtium's roots 

 were washed into it by the use of a 

 little plant food and the earth was 

 pressed down and the pot set aside, in 

 a shady place, and for two day* it was 

 fed. — after that, watered, and it grew 

 gloriously. Just try a similar treat- 

 ment — three interested ladies and a 

 cold water faucet — on any earthgrown 

 seedling, and watch the results. 



They say that plant food seedlings 

 are sturdy because 'they never have 

 had to work for a living' — they have 

 developed nothing but primary roots, 

 and those are extensive — and there are 

 no delicate, sensative, shockabsorbers, 

 to be shocked, in this first transplant- 

 ing, and, consequently, no setback, no 

 nervous derangement — when trans- 

 planted and assisted (with plant food 

 for two days) they easily provide a soil 

 sucking system of great power. They 

 have never had to fight with weeds 

 yet they are well provided for life's 

 battles by intelligent nature. 



We are seeing many of the sheltered 

 of the human family taking hold, in a 

 most marvelous manner, when trans- 

 planted from an easy life to rougher 

 conditions, under the stimulus of pa- 

 triotism mixed with necessity. All 

 thev seem to need is intelligent direc- 

 tion to produce a remarkable crop of 

 humanity. 



There are going to be many late gar- 

 dens this vear and while we are strug- 

 gling to get vacant lots prepared why 

 not make a 'saw dust preparation'? 

 Many a sunny window can be utilized 

 by those who never intend cultivating 

 the soil. They can grow a crop of 

 "universality" with their seedlings, and 

 contribute to the good of the commun- 

 ity. 



It is a great deal to ask of children 

 to commit their seeds to the cold 

 earth and then wait in patience while 

 (what we call) weeds appear. And it 

 is hard on the seeds. Why make them 

 struggle when we know a better way? 

 The writer used two teaspoonfuls 

 of plantfood — one at night, and one in 

 the morning — for each seedling, and 

 as six tablets make one quart of solu- 

 tion and 30 tablets cost 10 cents, we 

 have a supply for 20 seedlings for 20 

 days at a modest outlay. Larger quan- 

 tities may be obtained at a reduced 

 rate. 



If one uses eggshells the skin must 

 be rubbed out — a somewhat tedious 

 process — but it will mold, otherwise, 

 and the plantfood requires a strictly 

 neutral medium, for it supplies all the 

 plant's needs. And when the second 

 leaves appear, or as soon after as pos- 

 sible, transplant to soil (convenient pa- 

 per pots can be obtained for this pur- 

 pose) and supplied with plantfood in 

 generous quantity (double the dose) 

 for two days, after which water care- 

 fully but not too much. And, when 

 time has been allowed for plant to be- 

 come well established, it can be set out 

 in perfectly prepared — 'up to the min- 

 ute', — soil by merely tearing off the 

 paper envelope and so avoiding the 

 nasty knocking jar or clay pot plant- 

 ing or the dangerous root exposure of 

 box planting. 



The nervous shock sustained by seed- 

 lings as ordinarily grown, in the first 

 transplanting, due to the existence of 

 the delicate secondary hairlike root- 

 lets, is avoided by the plantfood meth- 

 od, and if ordinary care is taken in set- 

 ting out, no setback should be experi- 

 enced and every plant in the row will 

 be worth cultivating and a full row 

 makes the work worth while. 



The possibility of cultivating the 

 soil up to the last minute, and the ab- 

 sence of weed warfare during germina- 

 tion gives a wonderful theoretical start, 

 to say the least, and when frosts are 

 late, or preparation is delayed, the 

 nlantfood method permits a parallel- 

 ing of the enemy's trenches — a work- 

 ins: the sawdust while working up the 

 soil, or watchfully waiting. 



And in this connection, let us say, 

 that it is to the Germans we owe this 

 plantfood — we may say that we have a 



