February, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
37 
and you could build it for $2 to $3. The sashes, glazed, would 
cost $2.50 to $3 each — a total of $7.50 to $9. Frame and sash 
will last for years. It’s worth looking into, isn’t it? 
The seeds are sown either in flats or directly in the soil of the 
hotbed or coldframe — which is, of course, made as fine as pos- 
time. For cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, beets, and such “cold¬ 
blooded'’ plants, the sash should be stripped off altogether 
whenever the outside temperature allows anything over forty 
degrees. 
The matter of watering, especially in the early spring, is likely 
sible. The former method, however, offers distinct advantages, to be overdone. Plants at this season of the year, particularly 
and is to be recommended. 
In the first place, it is pos¬ 
sible to get all the conditions 
of soil, drainage, depth - and 
thickness of planting, etc., 
much more accurately with 
flats than by sowing directl}' 
in the soil. The flats are 
easier to transplant from. 
And more important still, the 
plants can be moved about, re¬ 
arranged and moved to cold- 
frames, or outside to be hard¬ 
ened off, according to their de¬ 
velopment, and some will come 
along much faster than others. 
With plants sown directly in 
the soil, one must give them 
all pretty much the same 
treatment. 
The matter of the prepara¬ 
tion of the ideal soil for start¬ 
ing seeds, a new method of 
watering them, etc., are given 
in detail in this month's Gar¬ 
den Department, and there¬ 
fore I shall not take them up 
again here. But remember 
that the more care you take 
to get these details just right, 
the more certain your success 
will be. 
There is sometimes danger, 
with the beginner, that after 
he has brought his plants to 
the transplanted stage, he may 
assume that they are practi¬ 
cally done with, and become 
careless in his attention to 
their wants, the most impor¬ 
tant of which is ventilation. 
To let up in your vigilance at 
this time may result in the 
loss of all the work vou've 
done. 
In the matter of ventilation, 
for instance, air should be 
given always on bright days. 
It might easily happen that 
a cold cloudy i\Iarch morning 
would clear off bright by 
eleven o’clock, and two or 
three hours of direct bright sunshine on your tightly closed 
frames would be a very bad, if not a fatal thing for your plants, 
as it would run the temperature so far above a 
hundred that the plants would suffer consid- 
ably. On very cold days the frames should 
be tilted up a little at one end (preferably the 
back) and on warmer days opened up more ac¬ 
cordingly. Try to keep the temperature inside 
not over seventy to eighty degrees during the day¬ 
Tomatoes which were started in the hotbeds and shifted later to pots 
were in fruit by the time that spring came 
On warm days open the sash wide; even on very cold days they should 
be tilted up a little 
very small plants, do not need 
much water. As suggested 
elsewhere, in connection with 
watering seed boxes, when 
watering is done it should be 
done thoroughly — never a lit¬ 
tle sprinkle — and then with¬ 
held entirely until a dry con¬ 
dition of soil is indicated by 
the surface, which becomes 
lighter in color and powdery. 
As the plants fill the flats 
and crowd each other, and 
time for setting them in the 
g a r d e n ap])roaches, they 
should be hardened off. This 
is done b)- leaving them with¬ 
out any in'otection, at first 
during the day and then both 
night and day. If your 
frames are needed for other 
plants (say tomatoes, peppers, 
egg-plants, etc., coming 
along) set the early plants 
outside in a sheltered spot, 
where they can be covered 
with old bags, curtains, shirts 
or anything similar, in case a 
very cold night comes along. 
If a sudden frosty night 
does catch your plants, and 
you find them all stiff and 
white in the morning, don't 
throw them away. Water 
them—drench them, with ice- 
cold water. Then cover them 
up, or put them in a shady 
corner where the sunshine 
can't strike them. They will 
probably come out of it all 
right. The cabbages illus¬ 
trated on page 36 had been 
twice snowed under, the sec¬ 
ond time with nearly three 
inches, and the only injury 
done them was that some 
were bent over. 
Cabbage, cauliflower, brus- 
sels sprouts, lettuce, and beets 
are all handled in the same 
way, as described above. To¬ 
mato, okra, egg-plant, pepper, 
in much the same way, except that they need more heat all the 
way through, and for best results should be put farther apart than 
the others, or if possible, in pots, being trans¬ 
planted in either case, a second time. 
Celery seed is very fine, and very slow to start. 
Soak in tepid water for twenty-four hours before 
sowing, and do not sow too thickly. Transplant 
50 to 100 to a 13 X 19 inch flat, and grow cool all 
{Continued on page 57) 
