30 VEGETABLE GROWING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Owing to the difficulty of obtaining supplies of fresh stable manure for 

 production of bottom heat in hot-beds, other measures are sometimes neces- 

 sary. A plan now in use in some districts is that a square ship's tank (400 

 gallons) . is fitted with an iron grating about half-way down and a small 

 opening made at the bottom of one side. The seed boxes filled with soil are 

 placed on the grating, and a coke fire lighted in the bottom, the seed being 

 sown when the soil has reached a temperature of 60 degrees Fah. In a 

 case like this it is necessary to exercise great care in the amount of heat 

 applied at the time of sowing and after. 



Transplanting. 



In order to allow of as little check to growth as possible it is well to give 

 every attention to the preparation of the land that is to receive the plants. 

 The eoil should have been recently stirred to rid it of weeds and to render it 

 reasonably loose. Before transplanting, the rows should be marked out in 

 readiness. On small areas a garden line will be found most useful. For the 

 household plot a board (say 8 or 9 inches wide and of any convenient length) 

 is useful to stand on, in order to prevent too great a compaction of the soil 

 <ind the unsightly footprint holes between the rows. 



If weather be unfavourable it will be found best to retain the plants in 

 the seed boxes until the conditions are more suitable. If possible, plant just 

 before or after rain, or during cloudy weather. Should the days be hot and 

 the plants too far advanced to be left in the boxes, the latter part of the 

 afternoon should be chosen for the work, so that the 'cool of the night may 

 afford an opportunity for the plants to establish themselves. On small areas 

 it is possible to provide some form of shelter against frost and sun, such as 

 small bushes, brackenfern, pieces of boards, or even hessian coverings. 



In providing this frost-proof shelter it is a convenience to place the stake 

 ,on the southern side, and then to arrange the hessian or other material to 

 cover the plant completely at night, but so that it can be lifted up on the 

 northern side in the morning, and the plant exposed to the sun without the 

 southern portion of the shelter being lifted at all. This arrangement saves 

 the work of removing the whole covering every morning and restoring it in 

 the evening. 



A quite effective protection against frost can be provided by covering the 

 plants with wrapping-paper or a couple of thicknesses of newspaper, and 

 using clods to keep them in place during the night. 



Only the strongest plants should be used ; those of inferior growth, 

 and any that have been damaged should be discarded. The seed-boxes 

 should be saturated some time previous to the removal, in order that the 

 plants may retain as much earth as possible about their roots when being 



