138 HOUSE PLANTS 



or leggy, because about the first thing to 

 do will be to pinch them back — pinch 

 out the tops. If the plants are put in the 

 garden before all danger of frost is past 

 they will not be injured if they have been 

 properly hardened off. 



During the summer grow the plants out 

 of doors. Select a well-drained portion of 

 the garden, spade it as deeply as possible 

 with a spading fork, turning under at the 

 same time a dressing of well-decomposed 

 manure which has been spread on the ground 

 about three inches thick. After spading 

 thoroughly, rake the soil until it is fine and 

 smooth, and all the stones have been removed. 

 Set the plants eighteen inches apart, in rows 

 which are eighteen to twenty-four inches 

 apart. Cultivate the ground thoroughly all 

 summer long. I have found it an excellent 

 scheme to go over the garden about once in 

 two weeks, loosening up the soil with a spad- 

 ing fork, to a depth of about three inches. 



Water freely all summer, do not give 

 them a little sprinkling every day, which 

 will do more harm than good — give them a 

 thorough soaking once or twice a week, after 

 which the surface soil must be stirred with a 



