258 PRIZE GARDENING 



will give as good celery in the early fall as can be pro- 

 duced later when the weather becomes cooler. Celery 

 grown in this way will not keep so well as that of 

 poorer quality. — [H. R. Kinney, Massachusetts. 



For Early Garden Vegetables. — The ground 

 should be plowed deep and w^ manured to insure the 

 quick growth of all vegetables. I find the addition 

 of a little lime does well in our soil, though it might 

 not on all soils. It does not pay to plant seeds in the 

 open ground until it has become warm. They will 

 not germinate readily, and many of them will be lost. 



When very early cucumbers are wanted, I have 

 found it an excellent way to place pieces of sod six 

 inches square on boards and plant the seeds in them. 

 I keep the sods by the kitchen stove until the plants 

 are up, then I remove to a south window upstairs near 

 the stovepipe or chimney, where they get heat from 

 below as well as the warm sun most of the day. As 

 soon as danger of frost is past I plant my sods out 

 and thus I have cucumbers at least four weeks earlier 

 than I otherwise would. The same course can be pur- 

 sued with melons, and when one raises melons for 

 market it is quite an item to have a dozen hills bearing a 

 month before any of the other growers. 



Sweet corn can also be grown in the same way 

 and when one has the variety known as Six Weeks, 

 it does not take long after setting out to have early 

 corn. Of course the window must be kept open when 

 there is no danger of frost, so that the plants may all 

 be hardy, and not notice the difference in climate when 

 set out. 



I always start my tomatoes and cabbages in the 

 house and have learned that young tomatoes take root 

 very easily and that it is an advantage rather than 

 otherwise to transplant them. 



Peas should be planted as soon as the ground is 



