TRANSPLANTING. 43 



find it. The thorough distribution is very necessary. 

 Plants cannot take in such substances in a wholesale 

 style ; while some kinds of fertilizer do not kill a plant 

 when used in big lumps, a very large proportion of 

 such doses is not available, or only so after considera- 

 ble time. We rarely use too much fertilizer, but use 

 it indiscretely. 



The best time to transplant is just before a rain ; but 

 where there are ten or twenty acres to be planted, the 

 work must go ahead when the proper time comes, 

 whether there is a rain at hand or not. It is certainly 

 no easy task to put out and water an acre of tomatoes 

 or half an acre of cabbage in a day. 



Considerable of this hard work may be avoided by 

 using a transplanter. Many machines have been con- 

 structed and put on the market to do this work. Some 

 are operated by hand, allowing a person to stand in a 

 partially erect position. They do the work more or less 

 efficiently, but for the lack of perfection, none have 

 come into general use. There are also machines that 

 are drawn by horses, but the plants must be put in 

 place by hand. Some of these machines do excellent 

 work, and would be used generally, but the prices of 

 the machines are so high that many cannot buy them, 

 and some who can buy them, dislike to pay more for a 

 machine than it is worth. The greatest advantage in 

 the machine drawn by horses is, that a regulated quan- 

 tity of water is emptied wherever a plant is to be 

 placed. To use one of these machines, the land must be 

 free from debris. Stumps and trees are also in the way. 

 The amount that can be planted in a day depends 

 upon the crop and the condition of the land. It is 

 said that six or seven acres of tomatoes can be planted 

 in a day. 



