496 FIELD CROPS 



morning and packed tightly in baskets or boxes for carrying 

 to the field. If they are not set at once, it is best to keep 

 them in a cool, shady place till wanted. Small or diseased 

 plants should be discarded. If the weather is cloudy, the 

 plants may be set at any time during the day; if it is clear, 

 setting in the afternoon and evening is safest. The plants 

 are set either by hand or with the transplanting machine, the 

 machine being used generally where large acreages are grown. 

 If the soil is dry, water is applied at the time of setting, but 

 this is not necessary when there is plenty of moisture. A 

 few days later, all dead plants should be replaced with fresh 

 ones from the plant bed. The distance between the plants 

 differs with the variety and the soil, though the usual dis- 

 tance between the rows is from 3 to 4 feet, with the plants 

 from 18 to 24 inches apart in the row. With a planter, 3 

 acres can be set in a day, three men and a team being required 

 in its operation. 



647. Cultivation. As soon as the plants start into growth 

 after transplanting, the ground should be stirred. The 

 earlier cultivations are usually with the shovel plow, to 

 loosen the soil to a depth of several inches and admit air and 

 heat. Later, surface cultivation is given, to keep down 

 weeds and maintain a dust mulch. The soil should be worked 

 toward the plants rather than away from them, using great 

 care not to injure the roots. Every effort should be made to 

 induce steady, rapid growth. It is best to continue the 

 cultivation at intervals of a few days until the plants shade 

 the ground quite completely; after that time, the leaves are 

 likely to be broken or injured by it. The later workings are 

 usually given with a one-horse cultivator of the spring-tooth 

 type. 



648. Topping. When from ten to eighteen leaves have 

 been produced, the top of the plant is broken out to prevent 



