PROPER DISTANCE FOR PLANTING 73 



to walk to the end of the row to commence work in 

 order to secure this. It is attention to such details 

 that distinguishes one whose plants nearly always do 

 well from one who loses a large proportion of those 

 he handles. 



Fruit at the least expenditure of labor. The plants 

 are prepared for setting by scant watering, and are 

 taken up so as to secure as much root as possible 

 with little soil adhering to them. Great care should 

 be taken in taking the plants from the bed, and in 

 handling them, to avoid twisting the stems, as to do 

 so very seriously injures the plants, often to such an 

 extent that they will fail to grow, no matter how care- 

 fully set out. Some growers dip the roots in a very 

 thin clay mud, hardly thicker than thin cream, but I 

 have not found this of advantage except, sometimes, 

 when the roots are to be exposed for a longer period 

 than usual and I do not recommend it for general use. 

 In setting, holes are made either with a long dibble, 

 in the hands of the one who distributes the plants, or 

 by a short one, in the hands of the setter ; the plants 

 are dropped into them a little deeper than they had 

 stood in the bed, the earth closed about the roots, by 

 pressure from the side. Especial care should be taken 

 that this is well done, particularly at the bottom; the 

 earth should be so firmly pressed to the root that the 

 plant cannot be easily pulled from the soil. In some 

 sections transplanting machines (Fig. 20) are used 

 and liked, but most planters prefer to set by hand and 

 the additional cost is not great. An expert with one 

 or two boys to assist in handling the plants can put 

 out as many as 5,000 plants in a day. A machine re- 



