SETTING OUT PLANTS. 13/ 



meal immediately about the plant after setting, and then 

 water it. If the weather is warm, soak the ground and 

 keep it moist until there is rain. Never let a plant falter 

 or go back from lack of moisture. 



How often should one water? Often enough to keep 

 the ground moist all the time, night and day. There is 

 nothing mechanical in taking care of a young plant any- 

 more than in the care of a baby. Simply give it what it 

 needs until it is able to take care of itself. The plant may 

 require a little watching and attention for a few days in 

 warm weather. If an opportune storm comes, the ques- 

 tion of growth is settled favorably at once ; but if a " dry 

 spell " ensues, be vigilant. At nine o'clock a. m., even well- 

 watered plants may begin to wilt, showing that they require 

 shade, which may be supplied by inverted flower-pots, old 

 berry-baskets, shingles or boards. A handful of weeds, 

 grass, or even of dry earth, throwoi on the crown of the 

 plant in the morning, and removed by five p. m., is prefer- 

 able to nothing. Anything is better than stolidly sticking a 

 plant in the ground and leaving it alone just long enough to 

 die. Many, on the other hand, kill their plants with kind- 

 ness. They dose the young things with guano, unfermented 

 manure, and burn them up. Coolness, moisture, and shade 

 are the conditions for a new start in life. 



As has been explained already, pot-growm plants, with a 

 ball of earth clinging to their roots, can be set out during 

 the hot months with great ease, and with little danger of 

 loss. At the same time, let me distinctly say that such 

 plants require fair treatment. The ground should be 

 *' firmed " around them just as strongly, and they should 

 be so well watched as to guard against the slightest wilting 

 from heat and drought. 



In ordinary field culture, let the rows be three feet apart, 



