TRANSPLANTING. 



47 



soil, the greater the necessity for packing- it firmly about the 

 roots. If the soil is wet and inclined to pack hard, it should 

 receive only moderate pressure until somewhat dried out. 

 The firming is generally done by pressing with a dibber or 

 the ball of the foot against the soil on one side of the roots of 

 the plant. When the transplanting is finished, it is a good 

 plan to give the plants a good hoeing at once, drawing- 

 a little loose, dry soil around them to act as a mulch 

 and prevent evaporation. The holes for the plants are gener- 

 ally made with a dibber (Fig. 10 

 or 10a). A spade is often used 

 for this purpose, such plants 

 as small onions, are most con- 

 veniently set in small furrows 

 made with a wheel hoe. In ev- 

 ery case, however, the plants 

 should be set a little deeper than 

 they grew in the seed bed, and in 

 the case 

 of spind- 

 ling toma- 

 to, cab- 

 bage and 

 some oth- 

 er plants, 

 it is a good 

 plan to 

 bend the 

 stems and I 

 bury quite 



Figure 18.— Transplanting aided by the Balbridge transplanter: which takes 

 up a ball of earth with each plant. The illustration shows a box of 

 strawberry plants just taken up and ready for planting out. In planting 

 out the holes are made with the same implement. There are several 

 other similar implements for the same purpose. 



a large part of them in the soil, as shown in figure 16. 



> 



Mtea 



Tomato cans are very convenient substitutes for flower pots 

 when plants are grown for transplanting. The cover on 

 the end opened may be melted off and a half inch hole made in 

 the bottom for drainage. Another way to use them is to melt 

 all the joints and use the body of the can by tying it together 



