IbhU 



glea^ni:ngs in jjee cui/ruui: 



'105 



plants, the clerk catches up a paper bag 

 hirge enongli to hold the quantity asked for. 

 lie then goes out, catches up tlie hose, turns 

 the nozzle so as to spray the bed where he 

 wishes to pull plants. If we are selling 

 them right along, as we are at this date, the 

 ground is kept pretty well saturated, aud 

 this is just what suits celery. Enough peat 

 is intermingled witii the soil forming the 

 bed of the plants, so that, when the plants 

 are pulled, (heir bushy and fibrous roots 

 bring along peat enough to dampen them 

 just about right, when they are put into the 

 paper lag, ami then handed to our cus- 

 tomer. 



The plant-g.inlen is a very attiactive place, 

 because it is such a novelty to our town to 

 see plants growing so luxuriantly, and so 

 much in advance of the season. Under- 

 neath tliese plant-beds are reservoirs, de- 

 scribed on page 58 ; and it is presumed that 

 the cabbages and lettuce have already sent 

 their roots down into the water of tlu S3 res- 

 ervoirs. Whenever we have sufficient rain 

 toleacli through the beds, the leachiiigs of 

 the manure go into these reservoirs, and w- 

 main until wanted by the plants. The cab- 

 bages you see in the cut now measure two 

 feet across. They are of the " Jersey Wake- 

 field " variety that never grow very large, so 

 we are expecting some rousing heads before 

 many days. Some of the heads of lettuce 

 weigh li lbs., and measure is inches across. 

 We get 15 cts. apitce for them .on oui' miir- 

 ket-wagon. "We have been selling ratlishes 

 for several weeks, raised on this idant- 

 garden, and beets are large enough to go on 

 to the wagon now. An acre of such ground, 

 planted to cabbages, would, without ques- 

 tion, raise a crop that would si 11 for :?1(00. 

 Of comse, it would cost sonuthing to con- 

 struct the reservoirs, and buy manure; but 

 I think it would pay near a good market for 

 early cabbages in June. 



The borders of the beds were mostly made 

 in Fel)ruary, by driving down stakes and 

 nailing on top of the stakes 2 x 4 scantling. 

 Around th(^ laiger beds wc nailed drop sid- 

 ing on top of the stakes, and had it after- 

 ward painted, to make it look tidy. The 

 smaller beds weie made in the snme way, 

 using any rough refuse boards to be found 

 around the premises. Eaising the beds 

 from the ground makes it convenient to 

 handle plants as well as to do the necessary 

 work. The tender plants were covered with 

 sash in February, but we hardened them 

 gradually so that the sa.sh w;>s used very lit- 

 tle drring tli'j m-ntli of Mr.rch. 



Ti: A NSPL ANTING. 



One great secret of ^^ orking tliis plant-gar- 

 den is to understand transplanting so as to 

 do it surely and safely. The plants are tak- 

 en from the seed-boxes in the greenhouse, 

 and transplanted into the soil of these 

 raised beds by means of the transplahting- 

 frame shown on page ISO. It is a good deal 

 more difficult to transplant in the open air 

 than to transi)lant in the boxes kept all the 

 time in the greenhouse. Drying winds are 

 very trying to tender plants just put out. 

 If these drjing winds are accompanied by a 

 scorching sun, you will liiul the labor of sev- 

 eral days all gone to nr.ught before you 

 know it. As a remedy for this, they should 

 be shaded for a few days, after being put 

 into the open ground, with light shutters 

 made the same size as your 3 x G sash ; that 

 is, the.se shutters, or shades, should be used 

 wlien yon sec the plants are suffering from 

 the .scorching sun and drying winds. The 

 slndteis had better be removed at night, 

 whenever dew falls, or on cloudy days. 



Something answering still better than the 

 shutters is a shading-frame made of lath, 

 the lath b^ing lialf an inch apart. This pro- 

 tects the tender plants from the wind, and 

 enabh s them to get some sunshine; but as 

 the shadow is always moving, they get al- 

 ternate sunshine and shade, which seems to 

 siut them much bidter. It is especially im- 

 portant that celej-y-plants have this partial 

 shading. Wiien some of our beds looked as 

 if the celery-plants were pretty nearly all 

 dead, ten days' covering with these frames 

 brought them up to full vigor. 



This plant-garden should be manured with 

 the very best old rotted stable manure, and 

 maniued heavily. On one little bed, 6 feet 

 by 20, we shall get, for a single crop of let- 

 tuce, perhaps $10.00. Two good loads of 

 mamu-e were put on to give this crop, whicii 

 were worth perhaps $2.00. The manm-e was 

 thoroughly forked in, so that Ave have nearly 

 or (pate two feet of soil that will give an im- 

 mense crop at almost any season of the year. 

 Now after having put s.> much expense on a 

 little jiiece of ground, tliis piece of ground 

 nuistbekeptcoiistantly cropped ; yes, winter 

 as well as summer. As soon as the lettuce 

 is off, put in beets, radishes, or plants, and 

 keep it going ; and along in the fall fdl it 

 with cold frame cabbige-plants, and keep it 

 doing sometlung right through the winter. 

 Some of the papers are inclined of late to 

 call plants raised very early in the spring 

 about as good as the cold-frame plants ; but 

 I tell yon, fripnds, they are nothing liko 



