March: Second Week 



GROWING STRONG PLANTS FOR VEGETABLE 

 AND FLOWER GARDENS 



The success of the early vegetable garden and the ap- 

 pearance of the flower garden throughout the season will 

 depend very largely upon the quality of the plants you have 

 ready to set out. Good plants do not make success certain, 

 but they make it very easy. Poor plants are always a great 

 handicap and usually result in failure. 



Most people judge a plant's value by its size. This is a 

 point to be considered, but it is by no means the most 

 important one. A plant in healthy growing condition will 

 soon catch up to and pass a plant originally two or three 

 times its size but in poor condition. " Good growing condi- 

 tion" is a state rather difficult to describe in words, but it 

 is one that anyone who handles many plants quickly comes 

 to recognize. One of the indications is color, most plants 

 being of a dark, healthy-looking green. Another is firm, 

 compact, sturdy growth and general " perky" appearance. 



If your plants look pale and washed out; if they have 

 brown leaves or are spotted; if they grow tall and lanky; 

 if they incline to droop and drop their leaves, it is a pretty 

 sure sign that something is radically wrong and you should 

 find the trouble. It may be bad air, or starvation, or too 

 much or too little water, or too high or too low temperature, 

 or insects or disease of one kind or another. Whatever it is, 

 don't let it go in the hope of having the plant get over it and 

 come out all right. Unless you remedy the adverse condi- 

 tion immediately your plant is pretty certain to come out 

 all wrong. 



There is another condition, not so easily discerned, that 

 makes plants less desirable for setting out a general 



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