156 GARDEN PROFITS 



and when planting-out time comes, it saves the 

 plants from a second check. You need not wait 

 for a dark rainy day, either, to do your planting, as 

 the roots, being confined, form a ball and none are 

 lost even though the pots have been torn or de- 

 stroyed. I do not recommend pots for celery 

 plants, but for cabbage and cauliflower they are 

 excellent. I always advise the use of pots for egg- 

 plants and peppers. Save your old berry boxes 

 for this, too. They can be used, after the plants 

 are set, for covering them on cold nights, and bright, 

 hot days. 



The First Potatoes. We are not confined to the 

 hotbed for the month of March. There are num- 

 erous things outside that can now be done. Plant 

 some early potatoes about the end of the month. 

 This is not a joke; the sooner you realize that all 

 potatoes are better when planted early, the better 

 it will be for you. I always try to have them all 

 in by the middle of April, for by planting early the 

 plants get well established before the dry weather of 

 summer comes on. 



In any event, do not permit March to pass with- 

 out getting in a few rows for use about the latter 

 part of June, (in the neighborhood of New York). 

 In planting early potatoes always use manure in 

 preference to other fertilizers, as it keeps the ground 

 slightly warm until the eyes throw out shoots. In 

 case of a late frost after the shoots show above 

 ground, go along the row with a hoe and draw a 

 little soil over them. In cutting seed potatoes 

 always cut to one eye and remove entirely the butt 



