THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 235 



roots are often injured by having their roots bent or broken in 

 transplanting. On the other hand, such plants as celery, which at 

 first have a straight root and are grown for their tops, are greatly 

 benefited by transplanting. In all cases transplanting has a ten- 

 dency to increase the number of small roots, and these are the main 

 dependence of the plant at the time it is set in the open ground. 



A large number of garden crops, including melons, cucumbers, 

 and beans, do not transplant readily from the seed bed to the open 

 ground, and some special means for handling the plants must be 

 employed where extra early planting is desired. A common practice 

 among gardeners is to fill pint or quart berry boxes with good soil 

 and plant a single hill in each box. 



Another method is to cut sods into pieces about 2 inches thick 

 and 6 inches square and place them, root side upward, on the 

 greenhouse bench or in the hotbed, the hills being planted in the 

 loamy soil held in place by the roots of the grass. When the 

 weather becomes sufficiently warm, and it is desired to set the 

 plants in the garden, the berry boxes or pieces of sod are placed on a 

 flat tray and carried to the place where the planting is to be done. 

 Holes of sufficient size and depth are dug and the boxes or sods 

 are simply buried at the points where it is desired to have the hills 

 of plants. The boxes should be placed a little below the surface 

 and fine earth worked in around the plants. If it is thought desir- 

 able, the bottoms of the boxes may be cut away when set in the 

 garden. 



SETTING IN THE OPEN GROUND. 



A few hours before removing plants from the seed bed or plant 

 bed they should be well watered and the water allowed to soak into 

 the soil. This will insure a portion of the soil adhering to the roots 

 and prevent the plants from wilting. If the plants have been 

 properly thinned or transplanted it is often possible to run a knife 

 or trowel between them, thus cutting the soil into cubes that are 

 transferred with them to the garden. Where the soil does not adhere 

 to the roots of the plants it is well to puddle them. In the process 

 of puddling, a hole is dug in the earth near the plant bed, or a 

 large pail may be used for the purpose, and a thin slime, consisting 

 of clay, cow manure, and water, is prepared. The plants are taken 

 in small bunches and their roots thoroughly coated with this mixture 

 by dipping them up and down in the puddle a few times. Puddling 

 insures a coating of moist earth over the entire root system of the 

 plant, prevents the air from reaching the rootlets while on the 

 way to the garden, and aids in securing direct contact between the 

 roots and the soil. 



Previous to setting out plants, the land should be worked over 

 and put in good condition, and everything should be ready for 

 quick operations when a suitable time arrives. The rows should 

 be measured off, but it is well to defer making the furrows or 

 digging the holes until ready to plant, in order to have the soil 

 fresh. The time best suited for transferring plants from the plant 

 bed to the open ground is when there is considerable moisture in the 



