1886 



GLliANlNGS IN JJEK CUi/rUlU-; 



217 



may have some damaged or rusty tin that he 

 can work into it. For a doUar more you can 

 get one of galvanized iron, with a cover to 

 it, like the one in the picture. Leave these 

 cans at the houses where they burn hard 

 wood, and you will have your ashes all in 

 good shape whenever you call for them. A 

 few ashes raked into the surface when you 

 put out your plants, or sow your seeds, will do 

 almost as much good as guano or any kind 

 of phosphate. 



CAUTION IN KEGAHD TO USING ASHES. 



These, as well as guano and almost all 

 other fertilizers, remember, must be ap- 

 plied in homeopathic doses, and at tlie same 

 time be thoroughly mixed in with the soil. 

 Last fall, when they were putting lettuce- 

 plants in the central bed in our greenhouse, 

 it occurred to me that a coat of ashes would 

 be a good thing to stir in with the peat and 

 earth put on top of the stable manure. Ac- 

 cordingly I went over to the house and got 

 perhaps half a bushel. I poured the ashes 

 down in a certain spot, and then tried to 

 spread them all over the bed. As a matter 

 of course, there were more ashes left where 

 the half-bushel was first poured down than 

 on the other portions where I raked it over. 

 They should have been sifted over evenly 

 with a sieve, and then raked in, say at least 

 two inches deep. On a large scale, the l^est 

 implement for the purpose I have ever seen 

 or heard of is Kemp & Burpees' manure- 

 spreader. Well, I raked tlie ashes in until I 

 thought they were mixed enough. Tlien we 

 set out our good strong lettuce-plants. They 

 started nicely, except where that one-half 

 bushel was poured down. The boys wanted 

 to dig these up, Avhen we found them wilted, 

 but I told them to let them be, as I wanted 

 to see just how too much ashes would act. 

 Well, a great part of the plants died; but 

 here and there one remained that was able 

 to stand the dose ; and by the first of Feb- 

 ruary these few began to take hold and 

 grow, and, oh how they did grow ! It is only 

 once in a while that I get a luxuriance of 

 growth that satisfies me ; but these plants 

 satisfied me in every respect. The leaves 

 had. a rich, bright, dark-green look, and they 

 unfolded and stretched out at such a rate 

 that there was a big change visible each 

 night and morning. They made enormous 

 heads of lettuce in just a few days, when 

 they got a going. Well, this satisfied me 

 that ashes may be applied at the rate of half 

 ft bushel to every eight feet square, without 

 doing harm, if thoroughly raked in and 

 stirred up with the soil ; and this fertiliZ/er 



has one advantage over every other. It will 

 never evaporate nor get lost. If the first 

 crop does not use it all, the next will take 

 what is left. Now, friends, save the ashes. 

 I told you what kind of beds we were 

 making for raising plants. Now, much de- 

 pends on starting right, and in having a sys- 

 tem with this kind of work ; therefore it be- 

 hooves you to decide on a regular width for 

 these raised plant-beds. I would have the 

 scantling that runs along each side just far 

 enough apart f('r common ox (J sash to catch 

 on lengthwise. Have one of the scantling a 

 little lower than the other, so as to shed rain. 

 Three or four inches will be enough. We 

 want the beds made so that we can set in our 

 shallow boxes, heretofore described, or .so 

 you can put the plants right into the earth, 

 either way. For the first time in transplant- 

 ing, we use shallower boxes, and made of 

 lighter stuff, than those figured in Chapter 

 IX. The kind we are using now for trans- 

 planting celery are 3 ft. long and 16 inches 

 wide, outside. In order to get strength 

 with lightness, we make them as in the cut 

 below. 



TaANSPLANTING-BOXES FOR SEEDLINGS. 



To give drain;) ge and strength, we have 

 the bottom made of slats only three or four 

 inches wide, and only i inch thick. They 

 are nailed on crosswise, as you will notice. 

 Such light stuff would not be strong enough 

 if put on lengthwise of the box. The sides 

 of the box are H x i inch. These are very 

 easy to carry about, and answer just as well 

 for small plants. From one of these boxes, 

 the seeds of which were sown on the plan 

 given at the close of Chapter VIII., we got 

 7o00 plants. The plants were taken up, and 

 set in larger boxes filled with soil, by means 

 of the frame of poultry-netting shown in 

 Chapter IX., so as to present about the ap- 

 pearance shown below. 



A pox OF WHITE-PLUMB CELERY-PLANTS AS IT 

 APPEARS WHEN FIRST TRANSPLAJJTED. 



You will observe that there are 10 rows of 



