Conducted by The Editor zoill be glad to answer subscribers' queries pertaining to individual problems connected with the 
F. F. Rockwell. gardens and grounds. When a direct personal reply is desired please inclose a self-addressed stamped envelope 
F ebruary 
'I'he most important thing there is to be 
attended to this month is the starting of 
plants. 
(Jf course you've all done it, but how 
many did you get, and were they nice and 
stocky and hardy, or a little inclined to 
grow up tall, as though looking around 
for something to lean on ? 
This subject may not seem as interest¬ 
ing as some other garden topics, but it is 
the basis of success wdth a great many 
vegetables, and any information concern¬ 
ing the details that will make results more 
certain is well worth every gardener's at¬ 
tention. 
The importance of having good, strong 
growing seetl, of course, comes first of all. 
No amount of attention to soil, tempera¬ 
ture. and care will get good, robust plants 
from weak or old seed. 
Another thing to remember is that our 
garden ])lants, both fiowers and vegetables, 
come from all parts of the world, all sorts 
of climates, and while they have been to 
a great extent modified, they still retain 
inherent ditfierences of character which 
must be recognized in attempting to grow 
them. You cannot expect the heat-loving 
egg-plant or musk melon to prosper under 
the same conditions that will give cold¬ 
blooded lettuce or celery a rapid, crisp and 
tender growth. And just so, in starting 
seeds, conditions should be made favorable 
from the very beginning. 
Teniperaliire 
A high degree of temperature is not re¬ 
quired, but i^lenty of light is essential. 
Whether one is using greenhouse, frames 
or the kitchen or living-room window, if 
a temperature which during February will 
never go below forty degrees at night can 
be had. the greatest variety of plants can 
be started, because the more tender sorts, 
such as tomatoes, pej^pers and eggs, should 
not be sown until four to six weeks later, 
by which time a night temperature of fif¬ 
teen to twenty degrees higher can easily 
be maintained. The night temperature 
for the early vegetables — cabbage, cauli¬ 
flower, lettuce, beets, onions, etc. — should 
average between forty-five and fifty de¬ 
grees, but one or two drops to forty de¬ 
grees. if they are not long continued, will 
do no harm. 
Soil 
One of the greatest secrets in starting- 
seedlings with certain success is to get the 
soil for the seed boxes porous and light 
enough. I think it is in this particular 
more than in any other that the begin¬ 
ner is likely to fail. He is so anxious to 
get the neat little seed packets torn open 
and their contents into the seed box, that 
he can't take an hour or two — or half a 
day. if necessary — to prepare the soil prop¬ 
erly for the most important stage of their 
growth — a good start. Too much water 
retained in the soil will cause the seeds or 
little seedlings to rot, and soil that has any 
tendency to pack w 11 form a crust through 
which the tender sprouts cannot push up. 
In order to overcome these difficulties, 
sifted leaf-mold or cocoanut fibre, or chip 
dirt should be added to give it the needed 
lightness, and enough sand to make it fine 
and crumbly, so that it will not pack or 
cake. soil half garden loam and half 
leaf-mold, with one-quarter to one-half 
sand added, will give you an ideal medium 
in which to let your little plants reach the 
first stage of development. 
Sowing the Seed 
The seed box should be about two inches 
deep, any convenient size, and have sev¬ 
eral small holes in the bottom to let any 
surplus water drain off readily. 
Put into this half an inch or so of the 
rough screenings from the seed soil— 
which should be passed through an ash 
sieve to make it fine and mix it thorough¬ 
ly — and then give this a thorough wetting. 
Then fill in with the prepared soil to with¬ 
in about half an inch of the top of the box, 
and wet this thoroughly also. (The idea 
of using all this water is to get a reserve 
supply of it, as the less we have to put on 
the surface, the better.) Then fill up 
nearly to the top with more of the same 
soil, level it oft', and sow the seed thinly 
in rows two to three inches apart. A 
good way is to mark off lines with a sharp 
stick, about as big as a lead pencil, and sow 
in these. The seed should be barely cov¬ 
ered, and the whole pressed down level 
with a piece of board or brick. After an 
hour or two the surface will be found to 
be evenly moist with the water soaked up 
from below. 
For the next twenty-four to forty-eight 
hours the seed boxes may be given con¬ 
siderable heat, sixty to seventy degrees, 
especially under the boxes, though they 
The seedlings should have a watering pan of this fashion made for them. The pan is filled 
with water, which is absorbed through the holes in the bottoms of the flats 
(44) 
