112 



these plants so grown can be taken to the field with- 

 out disturbing the roots and will immediately start 

 in their new location without check. 



The principal thing to be remembered in starting 

 plants under glass to be removed finally to out-of- 

 door conditions; is to have them thoroughly well 

 hardened off before transplanting. Under glass the 

 young plants usually make an extremely rapid suc- 

 culent growth, very easily injured by sudden re- 

 moval to field conditions. This, however, may be 

 prevented by slowly exposing them to the open air 

 until by transplanting time they are practically 

 growing under out-of-door conditions. Plants 

 stunted through lack of proper hardening rarely 

 ever recover and give satisfactory results. Various 

 methods are in common use for the removal of 

 plants to the field. Usually the sods, boxes or pots 

 are placed on boards of convenient size and 

 carried to the field, where the pots are removed 

 and the undisturbed root system placed directly in 

 the soil. In transplanting the smaller plants taken 

 directly from the seed beds, a dibble is the most 

 common tool used by the gardeners. This consists 

 of a round or flat piece of iron or steel with a handle 

 conveniently arranged for pushing directly into the 

 soil. The plant roots are dropped into the opening 

 made and the dibble again inserted two or three 

 inches to one side and the soil pressed firmly about 

 the roots by a backward pressure of the instrument. 

 Transplanting may be done much more rapidly and 

 much better by the use of this tool than with the 

 hands alone. 



In some cases the plants in the seed bed become 

 taller than desired and special measures must be 

 taken to place them in the soil in order to give 



