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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 19 13 



is remembered that a single flat will give you anywhere 

 from 200 to 1000 little seedlings, it is not much of a task 

 after all. 



THE ART OF TRANSPLANTING 



At the end of a few weeks your little plants will be ready 

 for a shift — and the sooner they are transplanted after 

 they are ready the better. Usually the forming of the 

 third or fourth "true" leaf will indicate when they are 

 large enough, and they should by this time each have a 

 nice little bunch of rootlets to take hold of the new soil. 

 The most convenient way of handling them is to trans- 

 plant into flats similar to those used for sowing the seed, 

 but about an inch deeper. The soil used should be a little 

 heavier — that is, the proportions of leaf mold and sand 

 can be lessened, or for strong-growing vegetables, such as 

 cabbage and lettuce, left out altogether. But a little well- 

 rotted manure should be mixed in place of this, to make the 

 soil both richer and lighter. If this is not to be had con- 

 veniently, use the leaf-mold or chip-dirt in place of it, and 

 mix with the whole a little bone flour, which can be bought 

 of the local dealer in fertilizers. Fill the flat half full of soil, 

 scatter a small handful of the bone flour over it, enough to 

 cover the whole surface lightly, mix it in, and put in the 

 rest of the soil on top. If you can, however, mix the soil 

 up a week or so ahead, using two to three pints to a bushel 

 of soil, as this gives the bone a chance to become more avail- 

 able for the immediate use of the plants. Good drainage 

 should be assured by leaving holes or cracks in the bottoms 

 of the boxes, and by putting a layer of coarse material in 

 the bottom of the box. Have the earth moist but not sticky, 

 as if it is either too wet or too dry it will greatly hamper 

 your operations in transplanting. If necessary, water it a 

 day or two in advance, just as you did for sowing the seeds, 

 or it may be "sub-irrigated" in the same way. 



Having all in readiness, with an old knife lift out a little 

 bunch of the seedlings, soil and all, as the little rootlets are 

 frail and break very easily; next pull them gently apart, let- 

 ting as much earth as possible cling to the roots, and lay 

 them out on a piece of glass or shingle so they may be 

 readily picked up : take out only a few at a time, to avoid 

 any possibility of the roots getting dried off. With the left 

 forefinger make a hole large enough to take in the roots of 

 a seedling and deep enough to cover it half or two thirds 

 up the stem, and with the right hand put the plant in place, 

 and with the tips of the thumbs and forefingers of both 

 hands firm the soil about it, pressing both downward and 

 inward toward the roots. After the operation is com- 

 pleted, the little plant should stand up straight and stocky, 

 and be so firmly imbedded that it can hardly be pulled up 

 before breaking. 



CARE AFTER TRANSPLANTING 



For three or four days after they have been "pricked 

 off," the young seedlings should be shaded from direct 

 bright sunshine during the middle of the day — say, 1 1 to 

 2 o'clock. If conditions have been right, they will become 

 established by that time, and grow very rapidly. They 

 should receive the same general care as when in the seed- 

 boxes, except that as they gain strength they will require 

 more water and will be benefited by all the fresh air that 

 can be given them. 



If a considerable number of plants are to be started, extra 

 room will have to be provided for them after transplanting. 

 The simplest way of doing this is to provide a cold frame — 

 simply a board frame extending a few inches into the soil, 

 about six inches high in front and twelve in back, and long 

 enough to accommodate the number of "sashes" required, 

 the regular size sash being three by six feet and costing 

 $2.50 to $3.50, ready glazed and painted. But a few 

 straight-edged boards and old windows will answer the pur- 

 pose. Storm windows are just the thing, and as they can 



be usually spared from the house about the time they would 

 be wanted for this purpose, can thus be made to do double 

 service every year. 



"HARDENING OFF" THE PLANTS 



Whether kept in the house or put outdoors in the frame, 

 as the plants grow larger, and the weather gets milder, they 

 should be given more and more air, and as soon as the 

 nights become sufficiently warm, should be left uncovered. 

 This process not only keeps them in a healthy state, but 

 makes them hardy, so that the final shift to the garden will 

 not prove too much for them. If the temperature should 

 unexpectedly drop some night, and you find your cherished 

 plants all stiff and icy in the morning, don't despair, as such 

 hardy things as lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, and beets, or 

 pansies and the annuals, will come through a straight freez- 

 ing all right, if you treat them as follows — give a good 

 drenching with ice-cold water, and then keep carefully 

 shaded from the sunlight and in as cool a place as possible, 

 above freezing. Tomatoes, peppers, or other warm- 

 blooded things, will, of course, not survive as much cold as 

 the above. They are, however, not put outdoors until 

 warmer weather, and with reasonable precaution there is 

 little fear of losing them. Your cold frame or window 

 sashes, if covered at night with old bags, blankets, or car- 

 peting, will keep off a good many degrees of cold. 



POTTED PLANTS 



The "tender" plants — tomatoes, peppers, egg-plants, etc. 

 — all require a second transplanting to get them into really 

 good shape to give quick results in the garden. After the 

 first transplanting, if they are given the proper degree of 

 heat — 50 to 60 degrees at night and 65 to 75 in the day — 

 and plenty of water and fresh air, they will develop so 

 rapidly that in a few weeks they will begin to crowd one 

 another in the boxes, if they have been set the same distance 

 apart as the lettuce and cabbage plants — two or three inches 

 each way. This is the signal for a second shift, which 

 should not be at all delayed, as they are now growing very 

 rapidly and will at once begin to "run up" and get weak and 

 pale-colored if they are not given more room. 



For this second transplanting the same sort of soil is 

 used, and they can also again be put into "flats," but it will 

 be of advantage to have these a little deeper — say four 

 inches deep — than they were before. Eighteen to twenty- 

 four plants will be enough to put in a flat this time. The 

 best results, however, will be had by putting each individual 

 plant in a pot, using three-, three and a half- or four-inch 

 size, the last being the best. By this method the plants 

 will not only grow to a larger size and be more evenly 

 developed, but the roots, being in a compact mass, and 

 undisturbed when they are set out into the garden, will 

 receive practically no setback at all, and the plants continue 

 growth almost uninterruptedly. Set the plants well down 

 in the pots, which should not be filled level-full of earth, 

 but left with a depression about the top almost half an inch 

 deep, to retain the water when they are being watered. 

 Care must be taken, after this second transplanting, to shade 

 from the bright sun carefully for a few days, just as before. 



PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER-GARDEN 



Most of the flower plants which may be started from 

 seed — Zinnies, Cosmos, Risinus, Stocks, Balsans, etc. — 

 should be handled in this way too. Pansies, Dasies, Asters, 

 Sweet Alyssum, African Dasies, and some other similar 

 kinds, however, may be given only one transplanting, and 

 set into the garden or border directly from the flats. Before 

 setting out they should, of course, be "hardened off" just 

 as the vegetable plants are. 



Your rows of spring vegetables and flower beds, coming 

 along weeks ahead of your neighbors', who have had less 

 forethought, will amply repay you for the trouble, if "trou- 

 ble" you consider it, of starting plants in the house windows. 



