Vegetable-Gardening 1397 



required will be one half that given in the table; if the row is longer than 

 100 feet, the amount of seed needed will be a proportional amount 

 plus that required for 100 feet. Always, however, the amount of seed 

 should be made larger than is needed. When the seed list is made, the 

 seed should be bought at the local store or from a reliable seed firm. 

 There being a little more of each variety of seed than is needed for 

 planting, it will be profitable to test the seed as to its power of growth. 



Testing seeds 



Choose ten average seeds of one variety. Provide a box 18 inches long, 

 12 inches wide, and at least 2 inches deep inside, and fill this box with 

 good garden soil. Mark shallow lines in the soil one inch apart, at a depth 

 about two or four times the diameter of the seed to be planted. Place 

 the ten seeds in the first of the shallow marks, or furrows. Mark the 

 box at the end of the furrow, on the wood, so that you will know the variety 

 of seed that is planted in that row. Choose ten samples of another 

 variety and plant them in the second row. Continue until all the varieties 

 of seed bought have ten fair samples planted in the box. Then cover 

 the seed in the rows with soil and press both hands flat on the soil. Sprinkle 

 about a pint of water over the soil and place the box near the stove or 

 in a sunny window where it will have a fair amount of heat. Water 

 when necessary, during the next two weeks. 



Mark on paper the date of planting the seed, and on each day set down 

 the number of plants showing above the soil. If at the end of two weeks 

 eight of the ten seeds in row 1 have shown above ground and are still 

 healthy and green, the percentage of growth will be eighty; if six show, 

 the percentage will be sixty; if nine show, ninety; and so on. If less than 

 sixty per cent shows, more seed will have to be used in the actual planting 

 of the garden in order to obtain the number of plants desired. This 

 is the most valuable test of seeds, as it shows not only those that sprout 

 vigorously but also those that under fair conditions will grow in the out- 

 side garden; and it is the seeds that will produce a crop that are desired 

 for planting. 



HOTBEDS AND COLD-FRAMES 



For the greatest success in vegetable-gardening, it is necessary to have 

 plants ready to set in the soil early in the spring. The cost of the plants, 

 if they must be bought, is often so high that persons frequently do without 

 them rather than pay the'price demanded. It is, however, a very simple 

 matter to construct hotbeds and cold-frames and to raise the plants oneself. 



Not only is it possible to raise all the plants necessary for the early 

 production of vegetables, but it is possible also, by the use of hotbeds 

 and cold-frames, to raise, and later to enjoy, some vegetables long before 



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