346 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 



tops and bottoms will drop out, and the seams on the sides 

 will open, leaving a smooth tin shell. Tie a string around 

 each to keep it from spreading. Set them in a box or 

 frame made of four boards. Fill the cans and the spaces 

 between them with good friable soil, set a small plant in 

 the center of each shell, sprinkle well and keep moist. 

 When the plants are well grown they may be transplanted 

 in the garden. Take the cans carefully out of the frames, 

 grasping the cans firmly to prevent the plants and soil 

 slipping out ; set them in a box or wheelbarrow and move 

 them where wanted. Prepare the soil by working in a 

 shovelful of well-rotted manure where a plant is to stand, 

 but this is not required if the soil is rich. Dig a hole deep 

 enough to set the upper rim of the can level with the 

 ground, cut the string and fill up and press the soil firmly 

 around the can, then by spreading the top of the can a 

 trifle, it can be drawn out over the plants without disturb- 

 ing the roots. If the weather is dry and warm, water may 

 be used at transplanting drawing loose soil around the 

 plants after the water soaks away. 



Plants for the Field. The above methods will produce 

 plants of great size and vigor to delight the amateur. For 

 a field crop it is hardly practicable to grow and handle 

 plants in such an expensive way, and satisfactory results 

 can be attained with much less labor. For late planting 

 they may be grown in quantity in a cold frame with cloth 

 cover or in a raised bed with slight protection from frost 

 and sheltered from cold winds, or even on the open ground 

 in frostless places. It is best to sow the seeds in drills, 

 using the spaces between for cultivation and irrigation if 

 needed, but many plants are often grown from the seed by 

 simply thinning the seedlings as they stand, though the 

 transplanted seedlings are always more thrifty and stocky. 

 They have a much better root-system, and grow more 

 thriftily after transplanting. Take the seedlings when 

 they have come in the rough leaf, and with a small hard- 

 wood stick, made pointed at one end, take up the young 



