[V.] THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 117 



must be taken not to put the plant so low as for the 

 earth to fall, or he washed, into the heart of the plant, 

 nor eve-n into the inside of the bottom leaves. The 

 stem of a cabbage, and stems of all the cabbage 

 kind, send out roots from all the parts of them that 

 are put beneath the surface of the ground. It H 

 good, therefore, to plant as deep as you can without 

 injury to the leaves. The next consideration is, 

 the fastening of the plant in the ground. I can- 

 not do better than repeat here what I have said 

 in my Year's Residence, Paragraphs S3 and 84. 

 " The hole is made deeper than the length of the 

 roots ; but the root should not be bent at the point, 

 if it can be avoided. Then, while one hand holds 

 the plant, with its root in the hole, the other hand 

 applies the setting stick to the earth on one side of 

 the hole, the stick being held in such a way as to 

 form a sharp triangle with the plant. Then, push- 

 ing the stick down, so that its point go a little 

 deeper than the point of the root, and giving it a 

 little twist, it presses the earth against the point, or 

 bottom of the root." And thus all is safe, and the 

 piant is sure to grow. The general, and almost 

 universal, fault, is, that the planter, when he has 

 put the root into the hole, draws the earth up 

 against the upper part of the root, and, if he press 

 pretty well there, he thinks that the planting is 

 well done, But, it is the point of the root against 

 which the earth ought to be pressed, for there the 

 fibres are ; and, if they do not touch the earth 

 closely, the plant will not thrive. To know, 

 whether you have fastened the plant well in the 

 ground, take the tip of one of the leaves of the 

 plant between your finger and thumb. Give a pull. 

 If the plant resist the pull, " far as for the bit of 

 leaf to come away, the plan s properly fastened 



