296 A YEAR IN AGRICULTURE 



from the seed flat and planted in other flats or in pots where 

 they are given greater freedom. In the case of eggplants and 

 head lettuce, which do not transplant easily, it is better to 

 handle the plants in pots than in flats, for they transplant 

 to the open more readily and their root system is injured less. 

 Cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, and toma- 

 toes can be very well handled in flats, or they may be trans- 

 planted to the open bed. Onions are sometimes started in 

 the hotbed in order to secure a larger bulb, but they are 

 seldom transplanted. Beets are often started in greenhouses 

 or hotbeds by market gardeners to secure an earlier crop. 



A short time previous to planting in the field, the plants 

 should be transferred to a cold frame so that they may 

 " harden off." A cold frame is like a hotbed with the excep- 

 tion that it has no bottom heat. ''Hardening off" means 

 accustoming the plants to the open weather conditions and to 

 the relatively dry open field conditions, so that they will not 

 suffer from the transfer to the open. The cold frame is cov- 

 ered for the first few nights and is left open on all except 

 cool days. Gradually the plants are exposed to colder and 

 colder weather, until finally the covers are left off altogether 

 for a few days or a week previous to transplanting to the 

 field. The plants should receive sufficient water to keep them 

 from dying, but gradually the amount of water applied 

 should be reduced while they are in the cold frame, so that 

 finally they will get along with the normal rain supply. 



It is always desirable to let the soil become rather dry for 

 several days before transplanting. This, coupled with the 

 exposure of the plants to cold nights, will harden the tissues 



