March, 1919 
41 
STARTING THE GARDEN 
The Importance of Early Planting and How It Can Be Made Successful — 
Hothed Use and a Discussion of Soil Enrichment 
WILLIAM C. McCOLLOM 
G ardens to be successful must be 
started at the proper time. All 
other garden essentials may be perfect, 
but if you fail to sow the seed when you 
should, you are certain to fail. 
Many of our best vegetables require 
the early start provided by the greenhouse 
or hotbed, or as a substitute the more 
troublesome but none the less productive 
method of starting the garden in the 
dwelling. Those fortunate enough to 
have a greenhouse usually have someone 
qualified to sow their seeds, but thou¬ 
sands of our home gardens where hotbed 
and dwelling are used for this purpose 
have no specially trained talent and it is 
to this class of readers that the present 
article is addressed. 
How to Sow Seeds 
When starting seeds in the greenhouse 
or dwelling, boxes, seed pans, old tin 
cans or any receptacle with tight sides to 
retain the soil may be used. The bot¬ 
toms must have some openings to allow 
the water to pass through, as the soil 
should retain only that moisture which 
its physical makeup will allow it to hold. 
Where proper drainage is not provided 
“damping off” is certain to collect its toll 
of seedlings. This is caused by a small 
parasitical growth which breeds in soils 
that are overwatered or poorly ventilated. 
The openings in the seed pans or 
“flats,” as they are often called, should 
be covered with about 1" of coarse cin¬ 
ders or like substance, and to protect this 
from filling with soil it in turn must be 
covered with moss, hay or other rough 
material. Just a thin layer is all that is 
needed to prevent the soil from clogging 
up the drainage. The seed box can be 
filled with soil, level with the top; when 
firmed this will come to the proper dis¬ 
tance from the rim to allow for watering. 
Loose, sluggish soils do not drain 
properly, so firm the soil well in the 
“flat.” Then make the real bed for the 
seed by sifting on the surface about 
of topsoil. The surface of this should 
be made level with a seed tamp or any 
smooth faced tool. In sowing, tear one 
corner from the seed packet and holding 
almost fiat scatter the seed thinly on the 
surface by shaking it gently. A little 
practice will soon make anyone perfect in 
this method, which is preferred to sow¬ 
ing in drills because it equalizes the 
spacing of the seedlings. 
How deep must you sow the seeds? 
The general rule is twice their diameter 
—but don’t get a scale rule and a magni¬ 
fying glass and start to measure the' 
thickness of lettuce seed! A little judg¬ 
ment is sometimes worth a great deal of 
exactness. After sowing press the seeds 
into the surface or they will move con¬ 
stantly during the covering, making it 
almost impossible to cover them evenly. 
The covering is done by sifting on the 
surface a light layer of soil. The pan 
Press the seeds down before covering them lightly with 
soil. The bottom of a tumbler does this work well 
can then be placed in a light window and 
well watered (in the greenhouse shading 
is practiced but is not necessary in the 
home). 
Young plants do not need abundance 
of nourishment. The soil for seeding 
purposes must be light in texture to as¬ 
sure drainage, poor in fertility to produce 
a hardened growth, but adhesive enough 
so that it will adhere to the roots when 
transplanting. A good mixture can be 
made up by using equal parts of good 
turfy top soil well chopped or forced 
through a coarse screen, leaf mold either 
natural or prepared, and clean sharp 
sand. Do not under any circumstances 
add manure or other fertilizer to the seed¬ 
ing compost. 
Subsequent Handling 
When the young plants have started to 
develop their first character leaf they 
must be transplanted. If this is not at¬ 
tended to at the proper time the young 
plants will become soft and of little value. 
Boxes should be prepared as suggested 
for seed sowing, though it is advisable 
to give the plants some nourishment. 
Well rotted cow or stable manure is pre¬ 
ferred for this purpose; it should be run 
through a screen and about 10% added 
to the compost. The boxes or pans 
should be filled level and then firmed 
with the fingers. 
The seedlings can be lifted for trans¬ 
planting by prying beneath them with 
any flat instrument such as a table knife. 
Do not have the seed pan dry for this 
operation or the roots will be broken. To 
.plant, make openings in the prepared 
boxes with a sharpened lead pencil or 
knitting needle; the opening can be made 
any size desired by twisting the pencil 
in a circle. Drop the roots of the seedling 
into the opening, setting the plant just a 
trifle deeper than it was in the seed bed. 
The soil can be pressed into contact with 
the roots by making another opening di¬ 
rectly alongside the one used for plant¬ 
ing. The box should be watered immedi¬ 
ately to settle the earth around the roots 
and can then be placed in the window, 
shading for a few hours during the mid¬ 
dle of the day until the young plants are 
established. It is also advisable to stir 
the surface of the soil with a sharpened 
stick to prevent it souring and to admit 
air to the soil. 
Building and Starting a Hotbed 
A portable frame of some kind is a 
very necessary piece of garden furniture. 
There are few periods in the entire year 
when such a frame is not only useful but 
quite necessary, its first use being for the 
starting of the garden seeds. For this 
service the frame is converted into a hot¬ 
bed, as follows: Excavate the earth to a 
depth of 2' and not less than T outside the 
lines of the frame. This hole can be filled 
{Continued on page 78) 
