194 The Principles of Vegetable- Gardening 



been be set in one day. The machines are also used 

 for transplanting nursery stock. 



The transplanting machine can be used when the 

 ground is too dry and too hard to allow of transplant- 

 ing by hand, and the plants are more likely to live. 

 The machine itself does not handle the plants. A man 

 drives. A plow opens a deep, narrow furrow, and 

 water is dropped into the furrow. Shoes or rollers 

 follow and close the furrow, packing the earth. On 

 the rear of the machine sit two boys, with the plants. 

 It is their business to drop plants in the furrow be- 

 tween the opening plow and the shoes. By practice 

 the boys can regulate the distance, and also learn just 

 how to drop the plant so that it will be caught by the 

 sides of the closing furrow and not fall over. A 

 mechanical device guides the hand. By quick work, 

 plants can be set as close as 1 foot apart. When 

 conditions of soil and weather are just right, two men 

 with dibbers and a boy to drop might set nearly as 

 many plants as a transplanting machine, but they 

 would not do the work so well. In a dry time and 

 in hard ground, the machine shows its advantage at 

 the best. 



4. CHOOSING THE VARIETIES 



One of the most engrossing incidents connected 

 with the running of a market -garden or fruit -farm is 

 the selection of varieties. There are the greatest differ- 

 ences of opinion respecting the merits and demerits of 

 any variety. This proves that the value of a given 

 variety is not a question of principle, but of local 



