GETTING INTO THE STRIDE 
W. C. McCOLLOM 
Thoughts of Spring and Necessary Preparations 
for Summer Stimulate to an Early Start Indoors 
Shift plants to larger sized pots 
as the roots fill the ones they are 
in. Knock out to examine the 
ball and never shift on a plant 
that is not making growth. Use 
one size larger, not more 
^5pN EARLY start in both flower and vegetable garden is 
labor saved in the long run, and, what is of infinitely 
more importance, assures a vastly increased return. 
This is due, of course, partly to the earlier maturity of 
plants thus raised and partly to their greater vitality and power 
of resistance to heat and drought. Such crops as Cauliflower, 
Cabbage, Pepper, Egg-plant, Tomato, etc. may be sown in 
heat at this time to give plants to put outdoors when the 
average man will be sowing seeds ; there are numerous things for 
the flower garden also which should be sown now to insure a 
proper yield. Aster, Snapdragon, Salpiglossis, Scabiosa, Cel- 
osia, Cosmos, Heliotrope, Sweet-pea, Petunia, Phlox, Salvia, 
Stock, and Verbena are some of the summer-flowering Annuals 
which gain amazingly through early sowing either in the dwel- 
ling house window, hotbed, or greenhouse. Satisfactory results 
are obtainable in any of the three places suggested and such 
differences as do exist between these are merely those of degree 
of ease in handling. 
Neglect to sow early is usually because of the amount of labor 
involved, but if gone about systematically it is really not 
great, and ultimately the fore-handed gardener is well repaid. 
The first step is to assemble all the necessary materials. Get 
ready flats, pans, crocks, sifted soil, drainage material, and 
everything else necessary, as well as the seeds themselves, so that 
when started every detail can receive proper and prompt atten- 
tion. 
Ninety per cent, of the losses attributed to damping-off are 
caused by faulty seeding; more directly, by improper drain- 
age or by sowing too thickly. When drainage is bad the boxes 
or pans do not dry properly, and the wet surface is an en- 
couraging ground for the growth of the fungus that causes 
damping-off. 
For successful early sprouting indoors there must be sufficient 
room for small seedlings after they are started, as when they 
show their first character leaf the little plants must be trans- 
planted into flats with a space of about two inches each way. 
The soil for the transplants should have been sifted to eliminate 
coarse manure or other rough material, since at this particular 
stage of a plant’s growth any more feeding material in the soil 
than the young plant can assimilate is detrimental to its ulti- 
mate health by causing a soft, unnatural growth easily suc- 
cumbing to exposure to mildew, aphis, and other plant enemies. 
But this transplanting into flats or boxes of some kind is ad- 
visable because the flats can be easily handled, and when the 
plants are sufficiently large the whole box can be placed in an 
outside frame or cool greenhouse to complete the “hardening 
off” process without reducing the temperature in the place 
where they have been to the detriment of the other plants still 
growing there. Transplanting to benches should be done only 
when practically an entire compartment is to be devoted to that 
use. If the seedlings are mixed with older plants one or the 
other must suffer during the hardening process to come some six 
or eight weeks later. 
G ET TING efficiency from the greenhouse at this time means 
considerable rearrangement of its contents, but there are 
many satisfactory ways of making additional room. 
When the trying period of real winter cold is past it is very 
easy to provide extra space in frames, which, although not 
heated, can be sufficiently protected from the cold to form a 
storage pit for plants which can be hardened up somewhat be- 
fore being placed in these quarters. Have sufficient salt hay, 
old burlap, or some such covering material which can be used 
abundantly on severe nights, simply laying a few sticks across 
to keep the wind from displacing it. Also occasionally shake 
out the covering material to keep it dry as the frost cannot 
penetrate the air cushion thus made. Plants under these con- 
ditions do not consume nearly the amount of water that they 
will under favorable growing conditions; therefore “run them 
on the dry side,” i. e. water sparingly. 
Space under the benches is too often cluttered up with old 
pots, boxes, etc, which should be disposed of leaving this area 
comparatively free from encumbrance and available for use, 
and as at this time of year the sun is quite high, boxes or pots 
not placed too far underneath the bench will get sufficient light 
to develop, and if changed occasionally to the bench any 
tendency to get spindly will be checked. Bulbs can be forced 
under these conditions. The under-bench space also serves as a 
storage for all kinds of stock plants from which cuttings are to 
be taken. 
Shelves supported by brackets attached to the columns or 
on the sides of the benches will give considerable extra space too. 
Starting the Sweet-peas 
W H EN we stop to consider how easy it is to grow Sweet- 
peas well, it is surprising how frequently we see poor, 
miserable plantings. The important point to remember in its 
cultivation is that the Sweet-pea is a “cool plant.” It loves a 
cool soil and a moderately cool atmosphere. This means that 
it can only be well grown when started very early enabling it to 
become a robust, 
healthy plant before 
the dry, hot weather of 
summer. For the very 
best results sow Sweet- 
peas now in pots, say 
three or four seeds in a 
three inch pot, thinning 
out to one as the plants 
advance in growth. 
Carry these along in 
cool conditions and 
when strong enough 
place in an outside 
frame. If allowed to 
remain inside where the 
atmosphere is some- 
what moist and at a 
The approved way of growing 
Sweet-peas of quality is to 
sow indoors in pots in a cool 
place for transplanting out- 
side. This gives the roots a 
start before any heat comes 
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