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VEGETABLE GARDENINC 
who claim that plants grown in this manner produce 
earlier cabbage than spring-grown plants. (3) An ex- 
tensive grower of plants in Pennsylvania sows in very 
cool greenhouses early in September, transplants and 
holds in flats during the winter months. With a very 
low temperature the plants make a slow, stocky growth 
and with some hardening before transplanting in the 
field the best results may be expected. The most serious 
objection to the plan is the expense of operating houses 
for so long a period. (4) If earliness is not an impor- 
tant factor, the sowing may be made in hotbeds or cold 
frames about March I, and the seedlings transplanted 
directly to the field. When this plan is adopted the seed 
rows should be not less than 3^/2 inches apart and the 
plants thinned if. necessary. (5) The plan which is 
now almost universally practiced in the North is to sow 
in hotbeds or greenhouses in January or February. If 
several hundred thousand plants are to be grown it is 
desirable to begin sowing about January 25 and to sow 
at intervals of a day or two until February 5. This will 
make it possible to transplant without any of the seed- 
lings becoming spindly or drawn. For details of this 
method see Chapter XVI. 
350. Growing late plants. — Glass is not required in 
growing late plants. The common practice is to sow in 
the open, and transplant directly to field or garden. 
Many failures are due to the use of inferior plants. It 
is important that every possible effort be made to secure 
strong, stocky plants, ready for the field when all condi- 
tions are favorable for setting. It is an advantage to 
have the seed bed near the field to be cropped, so that 
the plants can be shifted without much loss of time or 
drying of the roots. 
In selecting and preparing the seed bed, excessive fer- 
tility should be avoided, for very rich soils produce weak, 
succulent plants likely to succumb under field conditions. 
