CHAPTER VIII 



TRANSPLANTING 



Reasons for Transplanting. — As already mentioned in con- 

 nection with the consideration of temperature requirements, there 

 are certain crops that cannot be successfully grown in temperate 

 climates unless the gardener resorts to transplanting. These crops 

 have been enumerated in Chapter VII. Elention was also made 

 of the fact that in extreme northern localities, certain other vege- 

 tables, normally planted in the open, might be started under glass 

 and transplanted, in order to secure a crop outside the normal 

 limits of their successful culture. It is also true that in localities 

 where these crops could be successfully grown without transplant- 

 ing, they are sometimes transplanted in order to secure a crop 

 ahead of the normal season. The same is true of certain other 

 crops in addition to all those to which reference has been made. 

 Market growers sometimes transplant beets, onions, kohlrabi 

 and parsley in order to secure an extra early crop. 



Under intensive methods of culture, there is also another 

 reason for transplanting. It saves the time of the land and makes 

 it possible to grow an additional crop during the season. In this 

 case, the crop may be started in the open and not mature ahead 

 of its normal season. It is merely transplanted instead of being 

 thinned, in order that space may be saved during the early stages 

 of its growth. Rutabagas are sometimes handled in this way. 



Economic Questions Involved. — Except in the case of vege- 

 tables which cannot be successfully grown in the given locality 

 without resorting to transplanting the question as to whether or 

 not transplanting is admissible must be decided partly from an 

 economic standpoint, and partly from the standpoint of the be- 

 havior of the plant. In general, transplanting is most desirable 

 in the case of crops in which the product of the individual plant 

 is of considerable value or in which there is a substantial premium 

 on earliness. The greater the value of the product, the more 

 pains it is possible to take in order to make the plants thrive. 

 When beets, onions and kohlrabi are transplanted, little time 

 can be spent with each plant, for the value of the individual 

 product is slight. On the other hand extreme care can be taken 

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