118 GARDENING FOK YOUNG AND OLD. 



One box such as I have described, and which will fit 

 into the window, will start all the tomato plants likely to 

 be wanted for home use. Here we usually sow the seed 

 the last of March or the first of April. We sow them in 

 rows about an inch apart, and put three or four seeds to 

 an inch of row, cover a quarter of an inch deep with a 

 a mixture of sand and sifted moss, or moss alone. Keep 

 the soil moderately moist, but be careful not to get it 

 too wet. If, at the time of sowing, you saturate the soil 

 with warm water, as good a rule as any I can give in re- 

 gard to the amount of water afterwards required, is never 

 to let the surface soil get dry. If you keep the surface 

 soil or moss on top of the seed so moist that it will ad- 

 here together, that will be sufficient. Until the plants 

 grow, very little water will be required, but that little 

 should be given every day. It should be milk warm, or 

 about as warm as your hand, and be sprinkled on with a 

 fine rose. If any weeds appear, pull them out. And as 

 soon as the plants begin to crowd, some of them should 

 be removed into another box. As soon as the plants 

 begin to crowd, transplant them again into a spent hot- 

 bed or cold frame, covered with glass or muslin. There 

 they can remain until the soil and weather will allow 

 of their being set out in the garden. 



If you have pots it is a great advantage to set a to- 

 mato plant in a three or four-inch pot and plunge the 

 pots in the soil of a moderately warm hot-bed. If the 

 plants get too large before the ground is ready for 

 them in the garden, transfer them, soil and all, to a 

 pot of larger size, and throw fresh soil into the pot to fill 

 the space. Press the soil in firm, and put in enough to 

 fill the pot, the roots will soon fill it, and you will 

 have strong, healthy, stocky plants, each one of which is 

 worth a dozen of the lank, crowded plants sometimes 

 offered for sale. 



The preparation of the soil in the garden for tomato 



