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MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



is to say, when the plant has developed its two first leaves, and before it 

 has hardened and expanded its leaves ; for, once arrived at this stage, we 

 obtain several fine flowers if the kind is good, but it will be impossible to 

 obtain plants which shall produce a hundred flovvers at a time, and be the 

 admiration and pride of the amateur. 



After having transplanted, I water at the root of the plants, and, to facili- 

 tate their recovery, I water the following day if it is necessary, and prefer 

 the middle of the day, for at this season the nights are too cold. I weed, 

 redress, and water whenever the plants require it, till the time the plants 

 are moved to their place, which should be in the early part of June, and 

 not when the buds are formed ready to expand the flower, as is recom- 

 mended in some works. 



2. Transplanting under hell glasses or frames. 



The plants brought forward in pots or pans are more tender, and shoot 

 up quicker than those sown in the open ground, and should be transplanted 

 as young as possible, that is, when they have developed one or two leaves. 



This time, which it is of importance not to miss, is abont three weeks 

 after the sowing. As generally, at this season of the year, the temperature 

 is still too cold to expose the young plants in the open air, especially if the 

 nature of the soil is heavy and damp, it is best to transplant in the open 

 ground under bell glasses or frames, and in a soil resembling as much as 

 possible that described in the first paragraph of this section. I place fifteen 

 to eighteen plants under a bell glass, eighty to a hundred under a frame of 

 about one and one half square yards. To facilitate their recovery, I mould 

 the earth around the root of each plant, I water, I shade slightly if it is 

 necessary, but only during some days. 



I give air gradually, and when the plants have recovered, whenever the 

 weather permits, I raise the glasses or sashes Avhich cover them, for it is 

 well said, the glasses and sashes should not serve to force growth, but only 

 to protect the recovery of the young plants, and to shield them from in- 

 jurious changes of weather. To plants which have been thus transplanted, 

 we must give the same care, and take the same time for replanting them in 

 the open ground, as indicated in the last section. However, as these plants 

 have been transplanted too thick, they should be removed and put out in 

 their places, from the 20th of May to the 1st of June, and be treated pre- 

 cisely as before indicated. 



3d. In the Flower Bed. 



From the 1st to the 15th of June, or later, I transplant with a ball of 

 earth, and in cloudy or rainy weather, or in the evening, the plants which 

 have been brought forward, to the open air, and place each one thirteen to 

 fifteen inches from the others ; I do this into a flower bed previously mel- 

 lowed and enriched with well rotted manure. I form hollows at the root 

 of each plant ; I water whenever there is need, and often during the day 

 when the weather is hot and dry; and this attention renders their recovery 

 easier and quicker. 



