178 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[JtTNK, 
seed of the flower should be carefully saved, as 
it is very probable that the change will be 
even more strongly developed in the offspring. 
Transplanting and Transplanters. 
F. 1. TRANSPLANTER 
With many plants it is absolutely necessary 
that they should be transplanted. They are so 
small in their young state that they would be 
quite lost if the seed were sown where the 
plant is to remain. We therefore sow a great 
number of seeds in a small space where they 
can be cared for during their early growth, and 
when the plants attain a sufficient size' they 
are set where they are to 
grow. Besides this, it is 
often a positive benefit to 
the plant to remove it; the 
original roots are shorten¬ 
ed and induced to throw 
out numerous fibrous roots 
or feeeders, and its time ot 
maturity is hastened. 
There is no doubt that 
many of the plants of our 
gardens, such as all the 
cabbage tribe, celery, etc., 
are much improved by the 
root pruning they receive 
in the ordinary way of. 
transplanting; and, in the 
Cower garden, Balsams, Asters, and the like, 
take on a much better shape and give much 
finer bloom than if allowed to flower where the 
seed was sown. On the other hand, there are 
plants so impatient of removal that it is diffi¬ 
cult to transplant them successfully—such as all 
the Squash-family and Okra among vegetables, 
and all members of the Poppy-family, Bar- 
tonias, etc., among flowers. The time for 
transplanting is during the early growth of 
the plant, usually when it has made three or 
four “ rough leaves,” as the gardeners call those 
which succeed the seed leaves. When moved 
at this time, the plant recovers much more read¬ 
ily than if left until later. 
Want of success in trans¬ 
planting is less frequently 
due to the injuring of the 
roots by breaking than to 
their drying. Where seed¬ 
lings stand very thickly in a 
bed, it is not practicable to 
take them up with earth 
j P around the roots; they must 
be separated and then to 
keep them from drying it is 
well to “ grout ” them. This 
operation—by some called 
puddling—is very readily 
done: it is only necessary to 
mix any soil with water to the 
consistence of cream, and draw the roots through 
it so that they will be covered with a coat of thin 
mud. Plants with their roots thus protected 
may be kept out of the ground for a long time 
without injury. It is sometimes necessary to re¬ 
move plants after they become too large to 
transplant with safety in the ordinary way, and 
several implements have been contrived for ef¬ 
fecting this, as well as the transplanting of those 
which are slow to recover after being disturbed. 
One of the commonest of these is like two 
rather strongly rounded trowels so arranged as 
to be put in the earth, one each side of the plant, 
and then to be fastened together and the whole 
.’ifted. Another device is represented in the 
Fig. 3.— TRANS¬ 
PLANTER IN USE. 
figures. It was invented and is used by P. & J. 
Ten Eyck, of Middletown Point, N. J. The ap¬ 
paratus is made of sheet iron and of a size con¬ 
venient for the work to be done. Fig. 1 repre¬ 
sents a section of the transplanter. A, is a cyl¬ 
inder with a sharp lower edge, having a rim 
at the upper edge, and convenient handles; 
c, is a similar cylinder moving within the first, 
and having on its lower edge a flange, about 
4 of an inch wide. This apparatus is first used 
to make the hole to receive the plant. It is 
thrust down into the soil with a slight twist. 
The outer cylinder will penetrate while the in¬ 
ner one will be pushed up. Then by lifting the 
apparatus the earth it contains will be removed 
with it, and can be forced out by pushing down 
the inner cylinder. The same operation is then 
repeated with the plant, the outer cylinder be¬ 
ing pressed into the soil around it, the plant and 
the surrounding earth lifted, (as in fig. 2,) and 
the whole transferred to the hole; by holding 
the inner cylinder firm upon the soil around the 
plant the outer one may then be slipped. out 
with very little disturbance to the roots. The 
transplanters to be carried to a distance after be¬ 
ing filled, may be set on a board or in a box. 
Watering Newly-set Trees and Plants. 
Where the soil is rich, deep, and well tilled, 
and if the planting is done in moist or showery 
weather, there will seldom be any need of wa¬ 
tering. But if really necessary, proceed as fol¬ 
lows : Just before setting out the tree or bush, 
prepare the hole of a generous size, pour water 
into it and leave it to settle gradually away. 
Then set in the tree, spreading out the roots and 
covering them with the best soil at command. 
This done, mulch the surface with leaves or 
straw, laying over the whole a few flat stones. 
A tree or plant of any sort so managed, will 
seldom need any after-treatment. But if the soil 
is poor and light, and the season is dry and hot, 
it may be necessary to help the tree along. Take 
off the mulch, and three or four inches of the 
soil, and pour in as much water from which the 
chill is removed, as is needed to soak the ground, 
then put back the earth and the mulch. Once 
or twice during an ordinary season, will be as 
often as this treatment will probably be needed. 
If trees are watered directly on the top of the 
ground and with no mulch, the soil bakes hard 
like bricks, and is worse than no watering. 
What is Endive ? 
A subscriber in Kansas, and others inquire 
what Endive is, and how to cook it. Endive is 
own brother to the Chicory, grows from seeds 
and makes a large flat tuft of leaves the first year, 
and if the roots are kept over, flowers and 
bears seed the second season. It is not cooked 
as a general thing, but is used as a salad, though 
the Europeans sometimes cook it. Its great 
value consists in the fact that it may be had in 
mid-summer and later, as it grows well at the 
time when lettuce will not flourish. Sow in 
drills a foot apart, and thin or transplant to the 
same distance each way at any time until Au¬ 
gust, according as it is wanted early or late. 
The present month will do for the main crop. 
As the plant is very bitter it must be blanched 
before it is fit for use. Blanching consists in 
excluding the leaves from light and is most 
simply performed by gathering the outer leaves 
in the hand and tying them together by the tips 
over the center of the plant. Another and very 
excellent way is to invert over the plants good 
sized flower pots, each having something laid 
over the hole to exclude light. The tying up 
or covering should be done when the plants are 
free from moisture. In 10 to 15 days the leaves, 
all except the outside ones, will be found to be 
white, crisp and tender, and deprived of most 
of their bitterness. To those who do not dis¬ 
like a slight bitterness it is an acceptable salad. 
Training the Tomato. 
Some gardeners think that the best way is to 
let them alone, allowing them to spread over the 
ground. They maintain that the heat of the 
soil hastens the maturity of the fruit. In field 
culture this must be done, but where there are 
but few plants it is well to train them on small 
twigs or pieces of brush stuck in the ground 
around each plant. This exposes the foliage 
and fruit to the light and air better than when 
sprawling in a dense mass on the ground. And 
the fruit is kept clean. Some make a cheap 
frame, say two feet high, about each plant or 
extending along on two sides of a row of plants, 
over which the branches maybe trained as they 
grow. Drive in crotched stakes two feet high 
and about six feet apart, on each side of the row, 
and then lay poles (old bean-poles will answer,) 
from crotch to crotch. While the plants are 
small, prop them up with small twigs, and 
when they reach the poles draw the vines over 
them. This plan exposes the vines to the sun 
and makes convenient picking, and keeps the 
fruit clean.—Persons who have time and pa¬ 
tience, may make frames like ordinary grape 
trellises, and tie their vines to the bars. This 
makes a handsome show from August to Octo¬ 
ber. The plant if pinched in when young and 
and made to grow compact will be more self- 
sustaining, and fruit earlier and' better than if 
allowed to grow at will in the usual way. 
---■■«•>—-»-o.- 
Sweet Potatoes at the North. 
The success which has attended our own ex¬ 
periments as Well as those of friends and cor¬ 
respondents, will warrant those who have not 
made a trial of sweet potatoes to do to so with 
a fair prospect of a remunerative crop. Some 
who failed in their first experiment have de¬ 
nounced their culture as impracticable, but there 
is no doubt that the successes largely outnum¬ 
ber the failures. At this late day, the plants 
must be procured from those who have started 
them. Any good warm and rather light soil 
will answer. The ground must be highly ma¬ 
nured and ridged; this is done by marking out 
rows running north and south, at distances of 
three feet. Spread barn-yard manure or rich 
compost along the marks, and then form ridges 
by throwing two furrows together. The ridges 
may be finished with hoe and rake, and should 
be about 10 inches high, a foot wide at bottom, 
and 3 or 4 inches wide on top. Plant as soon 
as cool nights are over—from 10th to 25th of 
June. Mark off the top of the rows in spaces 
16 inches apart, and set the plants in up to the 
first leaf, and press the soil well around them. 
In dry weather water the holes before setting 
the plants. Where there are many plants to 
put out, one person may make the holes, a boy 
drop the plants at them, and one or two others 
follow to set them. It is best to plant on a cloudy 
day. The ridges should be kept clean of weeds t 
and the vines occasionally moved to prevent 
them from rooting at the joints. 
