14 D. M. FERRY & COS DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE 



Judicious Cultivation 



Not only should every weed be removed as soon as it appears, but the crust which forms after a rain should 

 be broken up and the ground stirred as soon as it is dry enough to permit it. The more frequently and deeply 

 the soil is stirred while the plants are young, the better, but as they develop and the roots occupy the ground, 

 cultivation should be shallower until it becomes a mere stirring of the surface. The yield and quality of vegetables 

 have often been decidedly lowered by injudiciously deep and close cultivation after the roots of the plants had 

 fully occupied the ground. A very small garden, well cultivated and cared for, will give larger returns and be 

 in every way more satisfactory than a much larger one poorly prepared and neglected. 



Mulching 



Most of the work outlined in the foregoing paragraph can be avoided and better results obtained by the 

 use of Gator Hide Mulch paper. Read carefully page 12. 



Starting Plants Indoors 



Earlier crops of many kinds of vegetables may be obtained by planting the seeds early in boxes indoors and 

 setting out the plants later after the weather has become warm and settled. Plants of such vegetables as 

 tomato, pepper, egg plant, celery and often cucumber and melons are usually started in this way, also many 

 flowering plants requiring a long season to bloom. Shallow wooden boxes three to four inches deep of a size 

 convenient to handle are generally used for this purpose. 



The boxes should be filled with good garden soil preferably a light sandy loam and the rows planted about 

 two inches apart. The box should be placed in a window where it will have plenty of light. Care should be 

 taken to keep the soil moist. When the seedlings are about an inch high they should be transplanted to other 

 boxes setting them at least two inches apart each way. If the plants tend to become tall and spindling they 

 should be moved to a cooler situation. Before being set in the open ground the plants should be gradually 

 hardened off; to do this set the boxes outdoors on mild days covering them at night until they are able to stand 

 the weather without damage. 



How to Build and Manage Hotbeds 



For early vegetables, some provision for starting certain plants earlier than can be done in the open air is 

 desirable; for this purpose nothing is better than a good hotbed and its construction is so simple and the expense 

 so slight that every garden should have one. A hotbed proper not only protects the plants from the cold, but 

 supplies bottom heat. By this term the gardener means that the soil is constantly kept several degrees warmer 

 than the air above, that being the condition so far as heat is concerned, which is most favorable for rapid and 

 vigorous growth, and gardeners usually secure it by making a compact pile of some fermenting material and cover- 

 ing it with the earth in which the plants are to grow. 



Heating Material 



The best heating material that is easily available is fresh horse manure, containing a liberal quantity of 

 straw bedding. What is wanted in the hotbed is a steady and moderate, but lasting heat. To secure this, 

 the manure should be forked over, shaken apart and if dry, watered and allowed to stand a few days and then 

 be forked over again, piled and allowed to heat a second time, the object being to get the whole mass into a uni- 

 form degree of fermentation and as soon as this is accomplished it is fit for use. 



The increasing difficulty of obtaining heating material for hotbeds has compelled many market gardeners 

 to adopt a method of using artificial heat. This is done by substituting hot water coils for the manure and 

 installing a small heater. A properly installed heating plant for the hotbed will be found more efficient and 

 satisfactory and it is permanent. A small heating plant can be installed and operated at moderate cost. 



Sash 



Some gardeners use sash made especially for hotbeds and glazed with small lights cut from odds and ends and 

 so furnished at very low rates. Such sash can usually be procured in any of our large cities and costs much less 

 than if made to order. For garden use, however, we much prefer a smaller sash that can be easily handled 

 and the use of larger and better glass. We recommend that for home gardens the sash be about two and one-half 

 by four or five feet and that the glass be not less than 10 x 14, laid with not more than one-quarter inch lap. 

 In giving the order to one unaccustomed to the work, it would be well to state what they are to be used for, and 

 that they need to be made like skylight sash. 



Frame 



This may be made of sound one-inch lumber, the back twelve to fourteen inches high, the front ten to 

 twelve. It should be well fitted to the sash so as to leave as little opening as possible and yet allow the sash 

 to be easily moved up and down, even when the frame is quite wet. 



The Soil 



This should be light, rich, friable. Any considerable amount of clay in it is very objectionable. If possible, 

 it should be unfrozen when put into the bed; for this reason it is much better to prepare it the fall before and 

 cover the pile with enough coarse manure or straw to keep out the frost. 



