120 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD. 



necessary and useless; the moist soil which was around 

 the roots when taken cut of the pot, will furnish all the 

 moisture needed. In setting out tomato plants from a 

 box or hot-bed, the soil should be prepared as before di- 

 rected. The plants in the boxes or hot-bed should have 

 the soil thoroughly saturated with warm water. I mean 

 by that, you should put on as much water as the soil will 

 hold. And recollect that soil will hold a great deal more 

 water than most people would suppose. A good garden 

 soil will hold from fifty to seventy-five per cent, of its 

 weight of water. Such soil or mould as we use in the 

 hot-bed, or for potting plants, will hold its own weight 

 of water; in other words, if you have a pot containing 

 two pounds of saturated mould, one pound of it will be 

 water. I mention this to show that when you undertake 

 to water a sash full of tomato plants in the hot-bed be- 

 fore transplanting them, it will take a good deal of water, 

 and you will be very apt to get tired before you have put 

 on all that the soil will hold. There is no danger of put- 

 ting on too much, for after the earth is saturated it will 

 hold no more, but the excess will soak into the manure 

 below. The better way is, to do the work of watering 

 the night before you intend to set out the plants. While 

 the plants are growing, water should always be applied 

 through a rose, but now that you intend to remove them 

 from the hot-bed, this is not necessary; it will facilitate 

 the work if you will take a small garden fork and break 

 up the soil between the rows of plants; you can then take 

 off the rose from the watering pot, and pour on the water 

 as fast as the soil will absorb it. Next morning break up 

 the soil again with the fork, and take up each plant by 

 putting your fingers on both sides of it and squeezing a 

 ball of the loose, wet soil, around the roots. On no ac- 

 count pull up the plants, as this will break off many of 

 the fine roots. Set out the plants, with this ball of moist 

 earth around the roots, down to the first leaves, and 



