420 Other Management of the Vegetable-Garden 



Dibbers, flat and 

 cylindrical. 



by hand, it is customary to have a boy carry the plants in 



a covered basket or box, and to drop them just ahead of 



the planters. One boy ordinarily drops for two rows of 

 planters. The boy should not drop 

 faster than the plants are required 

 by the workmen. 



Set the plants deep. Gardeners 

 usually prefer to set them to the seed- 

 leaf, even though they were an inch 

 or two higher in the original seed-bed. 



This deep planting holds the plants in position and places 



the roots in the moist and cool earth. Press the earth 



firmly about the roots and the crown. 



The best tool for opening the land is a dibber (Fig. 



325), which makes a hole without removing the earth. In 



the working hand hold the dibber; 



in the other hand hold the plant; the 



plant is lowered into the hole made 



by the dibber, and both hands are then 



pressed tightly about the plant as the 



earth is closed against it. Sometimes 



the dibber is thrust alongside the 



plant and the hole filled by pressing 



the earth against it (Fig. 226). 

 Another dibber-like tool is the 



"scandigie," shown in Fig. 227, 



adapted from Circ. 160, Calif. Exp. 



Sta., on lettuce, said to be "used for transplanting." 

 If the plants are rather large, and particularly if they 



have not been transplanted before, it is well to cut off a 



part of the foliage to hinder evaporation. One-half or one- 



. The dibber and 

 how to use It. 



