VEGETABLE GARDENING 
IS6 
better to start the work in three or four weeks from sow- 
ing, or when the true leaves are forming. If many plants 
are to be pricked out, the work should be started 
promptly and completed as soon as possible, in order to 
prevent the plants from becoming spindly. 
If flats are to be used, the work may proceed as fol- 
lows : Place about Y inch of partly rotted manure in the 
bottom of the flat and fill with soil. See that the soil is 
firm over the entire box and especially in the corners and 
along the sides. With a leveling strip remove the surplus 
soil and leave the surface smooth. The holes may be 
made with a machine (Figure 37), or by the use of the 
transplanting board (Figure 36). When the board is 
used it should rest firmly on the soil over the entire sur- 
face; hold the board in place with one hand, and with 
the other punch the holes with the dibber shown in 
Figure 36. A boy will soon learn to do this work very 
rapidly. If the soil is in proper condition and the board 
and the dibber are used skillfully, every hole will remain 
open when the board is removed. 
The seedlings should be watered at least' 24 hours 
before being transplanted, so the tops will be dry and the 
work of transplanting be greatly facilitated. The soil 
will be moist enough for the plants to be removed with- 
out serious mutilation of the roots. The plants should 
be handled carefully and kept in orderly arrangement in 
order to save time in dropping. The flat which has been 
previously dibbled is placed lengthwise on the bench or 
the table. A bunch of plants is held in an orderly posi- 
tion in the left hand near the holes while the other hand 
drops a good plant into each hole, beginning at the left 
end of the far row, and leaning it against the side of the 
hole toward the side of the flat farthest from the worker. 
The plants are dropped in the same manner in each row 
of holes, all the plants leaning in the same direction. The 
observance of these details is of importance for speedy 
