64 PRESENT STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



opened, by using a light spade and lifting the soil 

 away from the board, the back of the spade being flat 

 against the edge of the board on which the planter is 

 standing. 



"The plants are set at the five-inch intervals, care 

 being taken to see that the roots are in straight, and 

 the crown at least an inch below the surface. Soil is 

 pulled in with the hand as each plant is set, and after 

 firming the row with the foot, the bed is smoothed off 

 with a fine-toothed rake. The middle of the board is 

 then placed directly over the row, and the planting of 

 the next row is proceeded with. This leaves the plants 

 five by six inches apart, each row containing fifteen 

 plants in a six-feet-wide bed. To find out the number 

 of plants such a bed will hold, multiply the length of 

 the bed in feet by thirty. 



"Some prefer sowing the seeds singly in drills two 

 or three inches apart, and at intervals of one to two 

 inches apart in the row. In this event the same planting 

 board can be used, only the notches on one must be cut 

 the required distance apart, the rows being three inches 

 or less apart instead of six inches, as in the case of the 

 plants. It is thus easy to figure out the area required 

 for a given number of seeds." 



Some growers, it will be observed, recommend the 

 dibble in planting seedlings. There are serious objec- 



FIG 17. KELSEY'S PLANTING BOARD 



tions to the use of this tool ; first, it is apt to harden the 

 soil close to the main root of the plant and thus make 

 it difficult for the rootlets to penetrate ; second, unless 



