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KITCHEN-GARDEN 



KITCHEN- GARDEN 



sandy soils or in those that are rather dry. Clay soils 

 should not be packed so hard. Sowing in drills is usu- 

 ally regarded as better than broad-casting, because it 

 is easier to sow the seed at uniform depth, the seed- 

 lings are of mutual assistance to one another in break- 

 ing ground, it is easier to thin and to do other work, and 

 the plants can be more easily cultivated. 



In the small garden most sowing is by hand. Many 

 methods are practised. When the fingers are used, the 

 seed should be worked out by means of the thumb over 

 the second joint of the first finger. Many gardeners 



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like to use an envelope which has been sealed at the 

 side and cut off squarely at the end. A small quantity 

 of seed is placed in this envelope, which is held the flat 

 way, the opening only very slightly spread. It is held 

 with the opening parallel to the rows and is shaken 

 with a motion in the same direction. 



Mechanical drills are now widely used and are 

 almost indispensable in the larger gardens, the chief 

 advantages being uniformity of work and rapidity of 

 action. A seed-drill is not a cure-all for planting troub- 

 les. It requires as much skill as any other method. 

 Since there is such great 

 variation in the size of seed 

 of a given kind, the scales 

 on the machines can be 

 used only as a general guide, 

 and the machine should be 

 tried on the bare road or 

 on a floor before beginning 

 work. 



Growing early plants. 



One of the most dearly 

 cherished ambitions of the 

 amateur gardener is to 

 begin the harvest of his 

 products very early in the 

 season. To accomplish this, 

 it is necessary to sow seed 

 long before outdoor plant- 

 ing is possible. Plants for 

 setting outdoors should pos- 

 sess such vigor and hardi- 

 ness that they will make 

 steady growth in spite of 

 possible unfavorable condi- 

 tions which they may en- 

 counter. Other advantages 

 of starting plants in the 

 seed-bed, either indoors or 

 outdoors, are fuller utiliza- 

 tion of space in the garden, 

 greater ease in caring for 

 both the soil of the garden 

 and the plants themselves, 

 better root-systems, and in 

 some cases even greater 

 yield. The specific methods 

 of plant-growing are con- 

 sidered under the various 

 vegetables in this Cyclo- 

 pedia. 



There are three ways in 

 which this work for earli- 

 ness may be managed. Seed 

 may be sown for outdoor 

 transplanting in small plant- 

 boxes in the house. If 

 plenty of window room is 

 available and temperature 

 within the house is under 

 fair control, seed may be 

 started very early and the 

 seedlings transplanted once 

 before they go to the gar- 

 den. Another possibility is 

 sowing seed indoors, trans- 

 planting the seedlings to 

 the coldframe, where they 

 are under protection for 

 some weeks, and then plac- 

 ing in the garden. The next 

 step would be the use of 

 hotbeds and greenhouses 

 (see Hotbed) . The gradation 

 in construction from hotbed 



