188 Gardening 
Fic. 111. A home gardener transplanting her seedlings. They were grown 
in a small window box and are being transplanted to a flat to give them more 
room and to cause root development. 
garden, a small packet of seed may be planted in a seed 
pan or a flat 12X12 inches, or in a part of a larger flat. 
Perhaps 200 seeds will germinate, and the seedlings 
will be more or less crowded and irregularly spaced. 
Of these, 50 of the best plants may be selected and re- 
planted in flats so that they stand at least 2 inches apart. 
In this way enough plants for the garden will be obtained, 
and the chances are that most of these will be strong 
and vigorous. 
A second advantage in transplanting seedlings sev- 
eral times is that it often stimulates a more vigorous 
development of the roots. This is especially true of 
celery. The main taproot, which tends to go straight 
down, is broken, and side roots branch out which make a 
much larger and better plant. 
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