230 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1914 



it. The main idea here is to have a con- 

 stantly growing crop in the bed throughout 

 the season. Four plants of tomatoes are 

 placed as indicated by the X, and are 

 so spaced that they will fill the bed com- 

 pletely when full grown. As they do not 

 need all the space at first other quick matur- 



ing crops are grown with them in the bed. 

 In this manner a supply of lettuce, radishes, 

 and spinach is obtained from the bed while 

 the tomatoes are growing, and are out of 

 the way before the permanent plants re- 

 quire the space. 

 Plan VI. This is adaptable to March, 



April or May, either to start the bed or to 

 follow some other combination of planting 

 or to fill in, between two other schemes. It 

 gives a variety of crops. The beets and 

 carrots will require longer to grow than the 

 radishes, therefore two crops of radishes can 

 be grown in the rows indicated. 



PAPER POTS FOR HOTBED SEEDLINGS 



THE PAPER pot referred to on 

 the preceding page is far better 

 than the tin can as a plant pot be- 

 cause it gives drainage, which the 

 latter does not. Paper pots are cheaper 

 than clay pots and do not dry out as 

 quickly. They are handier to use than sod 

 or strawberry boxes. They offer many 

 more advantages to the amateur, as you 

 will soon find in practice. 



Paper pots are used for starting seeds in 

 the early spring, growing seedlings for trans- 

 planting, and so on. These pots cannot be 

 purchased, but paper of correct size may be 

 bought for $1.25 to $2.50 per 1000 sheets or 

 you can make them yourself out of strong 

 paper. I use red building paper, but any 

 other stout sort will do. Cut it into sizes 

 6 x 18 inches for a 3^-inch pot, and 6| x 



2 if for a 4-inch pot, other sizes increasing 

 or decreasing according to diameter of pot. 



The red paper may be purchased in rolls 



3 feet wide, costing about 45 cents; each 

 roll contains about 500 square feet. 



Unseal the loose end of the roll, place it 

 flat upon the table, and cut off the rough 

 ends. A marker is now used. Any board 

 six inches wide, and three or more feet long 

 will do. Lay the board upon the paper, 

 so that the edge will be at right angles to 

 the edge of the paper. With a pencil make 

 a mark along the side of the board which is 

 toward the roll. Move the board ahead so 

 that the mark is just at the edge. Then the 

 other edge of the board will be six inches in 

 advance, and a mark made down that edge 

 will be parallel to the first. Continue the 

 markings as convenient. 



Cutting the paper along the marks, the 

 strips (six inches wide and three feet long) 

 need to be cut across, making pieces 18x6 

 inches. 



It is necessary to have something upon 

 which to make the pots, such as a form or 



The start. 



Folding the sheet of paper around the 

 fixed block 



block. If you are not handy with tools, 

 get a carpenter to cut you a block of wood 

 of the following dimensions: 3! x 3! inches 

 square on the top, and about 3! inches deep. 

 Have him bore a f-inch hole clean through 

 and exactly in the centre of the face of the 

 block. Now get a blacksmith to set a flat- 

 headed bolt in the hole, so that the head of 

 the bolt is flush with the top of the block. 

 The bolt must be at least two inches longer 

 than the depth of the block, that is, not 

 less than six inches long. A nut is to be 

 screwed upon this protruding end of the 

 bolt. 



Take the block home, and set it up on the 

 kitchen table or on the work bench. Bore 

 a hole in the bench so that the end of the 

 bolt may be inserted through it and the nut 

 screwed as tight as necessary to make the 

 block firm upon the work table. Complete 

 your outfit by the addition of a hammer and 

 a paper of tacks with large heads but small 

 points, one and one-half or two ounce tacks 

 preferred. For a right-handed worker, 

 place the hammer at the right of the fixed 

 block, a small stack of paper at the left, and 

 a saucer containing some of the loose tacks 

 at the right front. 



Now to make the pots: Remove one 

 sheet of paper from the stack and place it 

 upright around the block, starting with 

 one end half way across one of the side 

 faces. The paper when wrapped around 

 the block will lap several inches, so that the 

 union will be good. Bend in, across the 

 top of the block, two opposite sides of the 

 free paper above the block. Do the same 

 with the two remaining sides. Place a tack 

 point down upon the topmost paper and 

 about in the centre of the top surface. Tap 

 it slightly with the hammer — a quick sharp 

 rap is best — so that the tack point will be 

 driven through the paper and clinched 

 by striking the flattened top of the bolt. 

 If too heavy a rap is given, the tack will cut 

 through the paper and not hold properly. 



The finished product should be a rather 

 square pot with slightly rounding corners, 

 especially toward the top. The bottom 

 should be firm and flat and heavy enough to 

 withstand the handling in filling, planting, 

 and transplanting. 



Good garden soil, or better still, well pre- 

 pared, composted soil, should be used to fill 

 the pots, care being taken to firm the earth 

 slightly, either by hand pressure upon the 

 soil, or by slightly raising the filled pot and 

 letting it fall back upon the bench. With 

 a small dibber or the finger a hole can be 

 made in the soil and the roots of the seed- 

 ling properly placed. Press the soil firmly 



against these roots, and have the soil sur- 

 face level with the top of the pot. The 

 seedling should be set in the centre of the 

 filled pot and at the correct depth so that 

 only the roots are below the soil surface. 



Handling paper pots after they contain 

 moist soil or are watered must be done with 

 some care. Water causes the paper to be- 

 come easily broken. When removing paper 

 pots from a 'hotbed, a coldframe, or any 

 other location where the pots have been rest- 

 ing upon the soil, the best practice is to in- 

 sert the hand or a spade underneath the 

 pot. 



In transplanting, a hole as large as, or 

 larger than, the paper pot should be dug, 

 and the paper pot placed in this hole by 

 hand. As the hand is underneath the pot, 

 the bottom of the pot is easily torn off in 

 withdrawing the hand, thus permitting the 

 roots of the plant to penetrate easily the 

 larger body of soil. 



Place soil around the side of the trans- 

 planted plant and press firmly the whole. 

 Among the plants that may be raised from 

 seed elsewhere and transplanted into paper 

 pots are: 



Vegetable plants: Tomatoes, cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, eggplants, peppers, kohlrabi, celery, onions, 

 brussels sprouts, lettuce, parsley. 



Flowering plants : Ageratum, antirrhinum, aster, 

 balsam, calendula, campanula, candytuft, cen- 

 taurea, chrysanthemum, cockscomb, coreopsis, 

 cosmos, dahlia, dianthus, kochia, larkspur, mari- 

 gold, mignonette, pansy, petunia, phlox, salvia, 

 stock, sunflower, sweet William, verbena. 



Some of the plants that can be grown 

 from seed planted in the paper pots and 

 transplanted later to the garden are: 



Vegetable plants: Those mentioned above and 

 the following vegetables not commonly trans- 

 planted: Sweet corn, string beans, cucumbers, 

 melons, musk, water melon, squash, summer or 

 winter pumpkins. 



Flowering plants: Practically all the annual 

 flowers; geranium, dahlias, hollyhocks, and many 

 other perennials. 



The finish. A tack is driven through the over- 

 lapped ends and the pot is ready 



