168 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 



an old caseknife, carefully put over the whole bed two 

 inches of rich compost, made of fine creek sand and de- 

 cayed sods a year or two old, mixed with fine sweepings 

 from the cow yard gathered in summer and protected 

 from winter rains. Tamp this prepared soil pretty firmly 

 with the back of a hoe, and plant the seeds an inch or so 

 in depth around each stick which serves to indicate the 

 middle of each sod. Plant six to eight seeds in a hill, leav- 

 ing finally three of the strongest plants. A box three by 

 two feet will hold twenty-four sods. 



By this method Mr. Adams quickly gets a full family 

 outfit ready to transplant in hills from one hot-box. He 

 finds two hills of cucumbers, six of muskmelons, six of 

 watermelons, and ten hills of pole beans, or eight hills of 

 beans and two hills of summer squashes will furnish a fam- 

 ily of five all or more than they can possibly consume, and 

 some to sell or give away besides, if the plants are well 

 taken care of. The box for early plants should be placed 

 on the south side of a shed or barn in order to protect it 

 from strong north winds, heavy cold rains, as well as dan- 

 ger of frost, and water as needed with lukewarm water. 

 Transplant the sods when safe by- running a wide shingle 

 or spade on the floor under each sod. In planting out, the 

 sods must be well bedded in moist soil which is closely 

 firmed around them, and the surface kept loose. 



Cuttings and Layers. Many herbaceous stems of gar- 

 den vegetables root readily from cuttings. Higher heat 

 and greater moisture are as a rule requisite for such cut- 

 tings than for hardwood cuttings of fruiting and flower- 

 ing plants, but some, like the potato, sweet potato, globe 

 artichoke, etc., root quickly in open ground taken from 

 sprouts taken from parent stock, and others, like the to- 

 mato, grow from cuttings of aerial stems. In the open 

 ground the soil must be warm and moist and the air moist 

 also. These conditions usually occur in California at the 

 beginning or especially towards the end of the rainy sea- 

 son, or they can be produced in a hot-bed at any time. 

 The cuttings should not wilt, and shade is of advantage 



