PRINCIPLES OF PLANTING AND CULTIVATION 39 



Plants of cucumbers and muskmelons are often started in hot- 

 beds or cold frames several weeks in advance of the normal time 

 for planting in the open. The seeds may be planted either in 

 squares of sod placed grass side down in the hotbed or cold frame, 

 or in wooden boxes such as are used for marketing berries. Paper 

 pots, earthen pots, and old tomato cans with tops and bottoms 

 melted off may be used as receptacles for growing plants to be 

 transplanted to the field. 



Often cucumber, melon, tomato, and other plants are grown in 

 place in the soil of the hotbed or cold frame, and at transplanting 

 time are removed to the field in balls of earth containing the roots 

 of the plant, cut out with a ring of galvanized iron or tin of suitable 

 size. By slipping a spade or thin paddle under the ring after it has 

 been pressed into the earth to the desired depth, the whole can be 

 easily lifted and transferred to a suitable carrying board. In the 

 field the plants are slipped out of the metal rings into holes pre- 

 pared in the soil at proper intervals ; the rings are then returned 

 to the seed bed for a new supply of plants. 



Setting plants in the field. It frequently happens that the plants 

 in a seed bed, particularly tomatoes, cabbage, eggplants, and others 

 of a like nature, grow taller than is desired. In transplanting these 

 to the field it is usually advisable to trim off the lower leaves and 

 bury the stems for a considerable part of their length, rather than 

 attempt to head them back. In the case of tomatoes all except 

 the topmost leaves can be removed, and the stem buried to the 

 same depth that the general root system is buried, say 4 inches. 

 This treatment is of real advantage to the plant because the stem 

 throws out additional roots along the whole section buried, so that 

 the root system of the plant is increased by the length of stem 

 placed under the surface of the soil. With properly grown plants, 

 however, these makeshifts are not necessary ; and with cabbage, 

 cauliflower, kale, etc. of proper size the plants can be set very 

 rapidly by the use of a dibble if the roots have been puddled. 



The dibble, as understood by gardeners, is simply a pointed 

 implement made of either wood or steel. It may be straight or 

 curved, or it may be provided with a D-handle similar to that of a 

 spade. The character of the implement will depend largely upon 

 the nature of the soil in which it is to be used. If the soil is sticky, 



