How to Grow Plants from Seeds 175 



REARING SEEDLINGS FOR TRANSPLANTING 



Many vegetables can be brought to maturity earlier 

 by starting the plants indoors. The seeds are planted in 

 boxes or flats or even in cans that are filled with earth, 

 and the growing seedlings are kept in warm rooms or in 

 hotbeds. Literally, these boxes are small gardens in 

 which crops are grown until it is warm enough to plant 

 them out of doors. As soon as the weather permits, the 

 seedlings are transplanted to the garden; and because 

 they are already of considerable size and have roots and 

 leaves developed, they mature sooner than the same 

 crops would if the seed were sown in the garden. 



In this way cool-season crops like cabbage, pe-tsai, and 

 lettuce may be brought to maturity before the hot 

 weather of summer arrives. Long-period warm-season 

 crops like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and sweet po- 

 tatoes can thus be had earlier in the season and may 

 also be matured where the outdoor season is shorter than 

 the plant requires for full growth. 



One can often buy plants, ready for transplanting, of 

 such crops as cabbages, tomatoes, eggplants, and pep- 

 pers ; but often these plants are poorly grown and the 

 name of the variety is uncertain. The gardener will 

 find it to be an advantage if he can grow his own seed- 

 lings for transplanting, unless he can buy good plants 

 from a reliable source. 



Making flats. Flats are shallow boxes or trays, about 

 3 inches in depth, in which seedlings are grown. They 

 are most easily made by sawing off the bottom part of 

 boxes of suitable sizes. Or they can be made from 



