320 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
without further expense or trouble to himself it will be delivered to 
him at the place of meeting. As the storage is very cold, almost to 
freezing, any kind of fruit not over-ripe and carefully handled and 
picked—even plums—should come outin goodcondition. A liber- 
al premium list will be prepared to repay you for all the trouble— 
and, besides, we want the finest show of fruit at the coming ses- 
sion we have ever made. Please notify the secretary of any snip- 
ments and about the number of plates. Heretofore some of the ex- 
hibitors have sent back to cold storage for the winter meeting the 
fruit they exhibited at the state fair. This practice is unsatisfactory 
in that the fruit cannot come out in good condition after so many 
changes and so much handling. Much better results will be ob- 
tained (and more premiums earned) by storing in separate lot for 
the winter meeting, and the expense and trouble to the exhibitors 
has been reduced to a minium that they might dothis. Of course, 
in the case of one having no other specimens, it is sometimes abso- 
lutely necessary to exhibit the same fruit twice. 
STARTING PLANTS IN SODS. 
Lima beans, squashes and melons do nicely by starting them in 
sods. Take some close cropped turf from a rich pasture, cut it to fit 
a strawberry box and, reversing it, place itin the basket, and 
loosening up the soil, mix in some superphosphate or rich compost 
and sow the seed. The seed should be sown about six weeks before 
it will be safe to place the plants in the open ground. The harden- 
ing off, that is, inuring to outdoor conditions, is a very impcrtant 
part of spring plant management. Two weeks before the time to 
finally transplant, place the plants in a shallow trench out of doors, 
having arim of boards high enough to secure head room for the 
plants. The soil taken from the trench should be banked around 
the rim. A tight board covering at night will protect from frost 
and such a cover may be cheaply made by taking dry goods 
boxes, cleating sides and top and bottom, so they will not fall to 
pieces, and sawing them off close toeach end. This will give six 
covers which will serve for a cold frame 28 inches wide and 16 to 20 
feet long, according to the size of the box, and a box will not cost 
more than 40 or 50c. In nights when there is no probability of frost, 
the covers may be left off. 
Thrifty growth, frequent transplanting, and careful but thorough 
hardening are the secrets of strong, early, tough vegetable plants. 
It is always desirable to put in plenty of seed, as they seem to come 
up much better than when sownthinly. A certain amount of heat 
is engendered in sprouting, which helps the temperature of the soil, 
and the plants are of mutual benefit in cracking the soil, just as 
many hands at the raising of a building makes light work for all. 
The most advanced plant growers do not now water upon the sur- 
face but have a shallow tankin which the flat box of plants is set 
until the soil is thoroughly saturated. This prevents baking and 
washing of the surface.—O. J. Farmer. 
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