Thinning and Transplanting. — 165 



egg plants and sweet potatoes, all of which rather enjoy heat, 

 and are somewhat indifferent to drought, require less care in 

 the selection of cloudy weather, or moist soil when planting 

 out, and may often be set safely when cabbage and celery plants 

 could not be transferred to the open ground without suffering 

 considerable loss. 



Spindling Plants. — Even the most ill-looking, spindling, 

 almost rootless plants of tomatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers, etc., can 

 be transplanted with entire success under average conditions of 

 soil and season. All that is needed is to insert the plants into 

 the ground up to their very hearts. Overgrown tomato plants 

 may be laid down in slanting position, care being taken to bring 

 the moist earth in firm contact with the soil where underground. 



Planting Spindling Cabbage Plants. 



Cabbages may be set either straight down or slanting, according 

 to depth of surface soil and length of stalk. In either case roots 

 will form all along the stems, and the heads will grow closely 

 above the ground, instead of being held high up as if on stilts. 



Transplanting Devices. — A number of transplanting 

 machines, both for hand use and for horse power, have recently 

 been put on the market. The most elaborate of these are rather 

 expensive, but are said to do the work well, and not only set the 

 plants, but water them, and apply fertilizers at the same time. 



