116 HORTICULTURE FOR SCHOOLS 



EXERCISE IV. Transplanting vegetables. 



Materials. Vegetable seeds; flats of soil in which to grow seed; 

 beds in which to set out plants. 



Procedure. Grow from seed a number of plants suitable for trans- 

 planting. Transplant some and care for them until they are mature. 

 Transplant others two weeks later. Let some grow to maturity without 

 transplanting. Let your cultural treatments of all be the same. Compare 

 the results and report on them to the class. 



EXERCISE V. A study of the market prices of vegetables. 



Materials. Daily newspapers containing market reports. 



Procedure. Let the class study the movement of vegetables in the 

 market by the following method. Each student should follow the price 

 reported for some one vegetable and record it each day on a wall chart 

 kept in the schoolroom for the purpose. As new vegetables appear in 

 the reports, the task of following them should be assigned to members 

 of the class, so that the records of the vegetable market will be complete. 

 Newspaper comment on the reasons for the condition of the market 

 should be brought to class and read. A new chart should be provided 

 each month and the old ones preserved so that comparisons can be made. 

 The exercise should be continued for at least four months. 



EXERCISE VI. Projects. Every student should have at least a 

 small vegetable project. If he does not have a varied home-garden, he 

 should decide on some one vegetable crop to grow, should secure all the 

 information possible in regard to it from as many sources as are at hand; 

 and should endeavor to make a financial success of the undertaking. 

 He should prepare the soil, plant the seed, take care of the plants to 

 maturity, and keep an accurate record of the costs, hours of labor, 

 yields, selling prices, profit or loss, and so on. At the completion of the 

 project, the student should hand in a careful account of the whole 

 undertaking. 



Many vegetable plants are grown first in the greenhouse or hotbed, 

 and transplanted later to the field. When this is done the school should, 

 if possible, cooperate with the student by furnishing facilities for 

 raising the plants in large quantities so that they may be available for 

 use in the student's own garden later. Provision should be made for 

 raising at least the following plants in the school greenhouse or hotbeds: 

 tomato, sweet potato, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, and pepper. 

 When the school has no greenhouse, students may well exercise their 

 ingenuity in improvising hotbeds and other substitutes. Small boxes 

 covered by panes of glass and set indoors at night are useful. 



