122 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
April, 1917 
Sowing Seeds Indoors. 
Prof. J. G. Moore. 
While the coal or gas heated 
house present some difficulties 
in starting plants indoors, it 
should be possible, if the more 
favorable conditions are selected, 
to secure vegetables somewhat 
earlier by this method. The 
seeds should be started in shallow 
boxes or pans, the boxes being 
preferable as they permit drain- 
age and the plants are less likely 
to suffer from overwatering. The 
seed should preferably be sown 
in rows. It should be sown thin 
and as soon as possible after the 
plants are up they should be 
thinned or transplanted. Water- 
ing should occur at as long inter- 
vals as possible without allowing 
the plants to wilt. The lighter 
color of the surface soil is a good 
indicator of the need of water if 
watering has been properly done 
and there are facilities for drain- 
age. Enough water should be 
applied at each application to 
thoroughly soak the soil. Fre- 
quent and insufficient waterings 
encourage unfavorable conditions. 
When the plants beging to de- 
velop their first true leaves, 
transplant to shallow boxes or 
pots. Where pots are available, 
the plants can be handled some- 
what more successfully than when 
set in boxes because from pots 
they can be repotted or set in the 
garden without any disturbance 
of the root system and with less 
likelihood of being checked. It is 
desirable to avoid as far as poss- 
ible checking of the growth of the 
plant in producing early vege- 
tables. 
The seeds of certain vegetables 
are best sown in pots or dirt 
bands from which they may set 
in the garden without root distur- 
ance. These are the vegetables 
which are transplanted with diffi- 
culty. The vegetables most often 
handled by this method are cu- 
cumbers, squash and melons, but 
it is also possible to handle beans, 
corn and other garden crops in 
this manner. Sow the seed some- 
what thicker than you desire the 
plants and thin to one or more 
plants, depending upon the s'ze 
of the pot and the kind of plants. 
All indoor or hotbed grown 
plants should be “hardened-off” 
before setting in the garden. 
This means accustoming the plant 
gradually to the conditions in 
which it will be placed when set 
out. On bright, warm days, ven- 
tilate or set the plants out of 
doors 'in the sun for a short time. 
Gradually increase the length of 
time the plants are exposed with- 
out injury until it is possible to 
leave them out unprotected over 
night. They are then ready for 
planting in the garden. 
Top Grafting. 
By top-grafting or top-working 
a worthless seedling or an unde- 
sirable variety may be changed to 
any desired variety. A short de- 
scription of this method of mak- 
ing new trees from old was 
printed on p. 83 of the February 
number and what follows may be 
considered as supplementary to 
that. 
Cions used for any kind of 
grafting are best cut while the 
trees from which they are taken 
are dormant, before there is any 
indication of growth. The books 
tell us that the cions must be 
taken during winter before the 
sap starts and stored in a cool 
place until the buds have started 
on the tree to be grafted. This 
is good advice, and if the cions 
can be kept from shriveling the 
top-grafting may be done any 
time, even when the trees are in 
full leaf. It is best to cut the 
cions early but it can still be 
done, April 1st. The writer has 
had excellent success in cutting 
the cions and immediately graft- 
ing them. 
The way to make a cleft graft. 
The one big mistake usually 
made by beginners is in grafting 
the whole top of the tree at one 
operation. A very small tree, a 
one-year-old whip planted one 
year with but little top growth 
might be safely treated in that 
way, but any older tree is quite 
apt to be killed outright bv cut- 
ting off all the main branches. 
Graft one-half the branches leav- 
ing the balance to support the tree 
and a year from now if the grafts 
you set this spring “take,” re- 
move the remaining branches. Se- 
lect the branches to be grafted so 
A birds-eye view of an apple tree. The 
branches indicated by dotted lines 
to be grafted. 
as to have a well balanced top. If 
you were a bird, or an aviator, 
you might make your selection of 
