306 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Most modern gardeners are abandoning the hilling of corn 

 and potatoes. Hilling injures the plants by cutting off the 

 upper feeding roots. It also makes in the garden a greater 

 surface for evaporation. 



Thinning should begin early, as soon as the seedlings have 

 four true leaves, and before they crowd, except as noted below. 

 And as it is important that the plants should not injure each 

 other, the gardener should have no mercy on the extra plants. 

 But there are exceptions. Mustard and cress should not be 

 thinned at all. Chard and beets and spinach, after first thin- 

 ning to an inch or two, may be left to grow larger and to be 

 thinned again from time to time, the thinnings to be eaten as 

 greens. 



The work of transplanting is made safe by a little care. 

 Choose, if possible, a cloudy day, or work in the afternoon. 

 Water the plants thoroughly half an hour before lifting. The 

 ground to receive the plants should be moist. Dig the hole for 

 each plant a little too deep, scatter in the bottom compost or 

 w^ell-rotted manure, with a little fertilizer, and cover lightly 

 with earth; then fill the holes once with water. Lift the 

 plants singly, with much earth, if that is possible, and set im- 

 mediately; at any rate, keep them from the sun when once 

 they are dug, and prevent the roots from drying out. Cut oft' 

 half the leaf -surf ace, to equalize the loss of roots. Water the 

 plants-, and if the sun is hot, shade them, also, for the rest of 

 the day and the hottest part of the next. Old strawberry boxes 

 are excellent for shading small plants. 



The work of gardening naturally changes with the season. 

 As the summer advances, and the plants spread, the work of 

 cultivating gradually lessens and that of picking begins. Here 

 the average gardener makes the mistake of letting the crop 

 grow too old. Beans grow stringy, peas tough, summer squash 

 coarse. Nothing is gained by this, for plants from which the 

 fruit is taken early make up by yielding more. It is much wiser 

 to take the crop when it is young and tender. Okra and kohl- 

 rabi are ruined if not picked when young. 



It is here that the proper management of a garden comes in. 

 To know at just what stage each crop is, and to pick it when 

 at its best, requires a little forethought. But garden manage- 



