STARTING PLANTS 63 



be given whenever it is possible to do so without ex- 

 posure to too low a temperature. If the plants are 

 in boxes and on greenhouse shelves, it is important 

 that these be turned end for end every few days to 

 equalize exposure to light and give full exposure to 

 the sun. The plants should be watered only when nec- 

 essary to prevent wilting, and the beds should be cov- 

 ered during heavy rains. A "spotting-board" for use 

 on flats is seen in Fig. 18. 



The most unfavorable weather conditions are bright 

 sun combined with a cold wind, and cold storms of 

 drizzling rain and frosty nights. Loss from the latter 

 cause may often be prevented by covering the beds 

 with coarse straw, which should always be provided 

 for use in an emergency. Many growers provide a 

 second curtain — an old one answers very well — to 

 throw over the straw-covered beds. Beds so covered 

 will protect the plants from frost in quite severe 

 weather. Watering should especially be avoided for 

 nearly three days before setting in fields ; but six to 

 twelve hours before it is well to water thoroughly, 

 though not so as to make the soil at all muddy. About 

 five days after pricking out and again about five days 

 before the plants are to go into the field and five days 

 after they are set, they should be sprayed with Bor- 

 deaux mixture. 



Early ripening fruit. — Here the aim is to secure, by 

 the time they can be set in the field, plants which have 

 come by an unchecked but comparatively slow rate 

 of growth to the greatest size and maturity consistent 

 with the transplanting to the field without too serious 

 a check. The methods by which this is accomplished 



