FLATS 373 



Flats should be filled with soil of good texture and moist 

 enough to work well. In filling flats, it is important that 

 the soil be made perfectly level, for otherwise the seed will 

 be washed in watering. With a straight-edge about a 

 half inch thick small furrows about one and a half inches 

 apart and a fourth of an inch deep should be made for 

 the seed, beginning about half an inch from the end of 

 the flat. After the seed has been carefully distributed in 

 these furrows, it should be covered with a little soil which 

 should afterwards be firmly pressed down. The flat should 

 then be watered and placed in the greenhouse or hotbed. 



As soon as the true leaves are formed the seedlings may 

 be transplanted to other flats in which well-decomposed 

 manure has been placed in the bottom and afterwards filled 

 with soil even with the top of the box. After leveling and 

 pressing down, the surface of the soil should be about 

 half an inch below the top of the flat. The plants are then 

 set in straight rows both ways. The flat should be set in 

 a cool, shady place for a day and then transferred to the 

 greenhouse, hotbeds, or cold frames. 



Before such plants are transplanted out of doors they 

 should be hardened. If they are planted directly from the 

 greenhouse or hotbeds to the field, the soft, tender tissues 

 of the plants cannot endure the low temperature and the 

 cool, drying winds. In hardening them, water should be 

 applied sparingly and air admitted to the frames more and 

 more each day, until finally the sash is removed entirely 

 during the day and replaced again at night. Such plants 

 as cabbage, celery, and other hardy vegetables, if properly 

 hardened before transplanting, will endure freezing, but 

 if they are not properly hardened, they will be injured by 

 slight frosts. 



