CONDUCTED BY F. F. ROLKWtLL 
Author of Home Vegetable Gardening and Gardening 
Indoors and Under Glass 
The February Garden 
HERE are three distinct jobs to at¬ 
tend to this month, which should 
have your attention promptly. The usual 
method is to put them off, because there 
may be for the present no sign of the 
break-up of winter and the return of 
spring. They are: to order your seeds ; 
to get the hotbeds and coldframes into op¬ 
eration, and to start your early garden 
plants. 
It may seem to you that as yet there is 
no need to hurry about ordering seeds, but 
within a week or two it will be time to 
make the first plantings of the earliest 
things, such as cabbage, lettuce, beets, 
onions for the transplanting method, etc. 
And the seeds for the first planting, in the 
garden at least, should be ordered along 
with these, because some of them will be 
the same as those you want for starting 
under glass; and because the others, which 
will be wanted before long, anyway, can be 
ordered to better advantage now, while 
stocks are full and no annoying substitu¬ 
tions will be made, and no exasperating 
delays, such as are likely in the “rush 
season,” will take place. Your order for 
the tenderer things, such as beans, melons, 
squashes, corn, etc., may wait awhile if it 
has to, but you will, or should, plan to 
start some of these things in paper pots in 
the frames in March or April, so you may 
as well do the whole job at once and be 
done with it. 
Seeds and Seeding 
T HE seeds should be of the proper 
varieties, those recommended for 
early planting in the catalogues, such 
as Copenhagen Market cabbage, Grand 
Rapids or Big Boston lettuce, Snowball 
cauliflower, Prizetaker onion, Early Model 
beet, etc. The “flats” are simply cracker 
boxes sawed into two-inch sections and 
bottomed in such a way, either by leaving 
the boards a little apart or boring several 
half-inch holes in them, that sufficient 
Lettuce may be started in flats placed at a sunny 
window 
drainage will be given. The soil should 
be very light and friable, preferably pre¬ 
pared by mixing together and running 
through a sieve equal amounts of leaf- 
mold, old rotted manure and clean soil, 
with enough sand added to make it thor¬ 
oughly friable; but light garden soil, free 
from weed-seeds, will do if no other is 
available. 
The place in which to start seeds should 
be very light, either under glass or near a 
window, though they might be kept dark 
until they begin to come through the soil. 
The temperature should not go below 
forty degrees or so at night. 
Fill the fiats nearly to the top with soil, 
press it down lightly and perfectly even 
and smooth and then give a thorough 
watering. The best way to do this is to 
set the flat of soil in a tub or the sink and 
let the water soak up through it from 
helow. This will do the job more thor¬ 
oughly, without overdoing it, than any 
other method. Let the surplus water drain 
off, and if the surface should be at all 
sticky from the flat having been left to 
soak too long, let it dry for a few hours 
before planting. Sow the seed thinly in 
narrow rows, two inches or so apart, and 
cover very lightly. Put the flat in some 
place where for the first few days it will 
get as much “bottom heat” as possible — 
on water-pipes, the back of the kitchen 
range, or almost directly on the manure in 
the hotbed. Keep covered, but not air¬ 
tight, with a pane of glass, to conserve the 
moisture. As soon as the first signs of 
germination appear remove it to full light, 
where a temperature between forty or so 
at night and sixty to seventy during the 
day can be had. When water has to be 
given, apply it only on the morning of a 
bright day, and then give a thorough 
soaking, which will wet the soil well, but 
dry off on the surface and on the leaves 
and stems of the little seedlings, before 
night. 
Put the Frames in Order 
F your sash and frames are not already 
in condition for use, get them so im¬ 
mediately. If any lights are broken get 
glass and “liquid putty” and repair them, 
the latter material is a great time and 
trouble saver in patching up old sash. If 
(Continued on page 126) 
The soil should be light and friable, preferably prepared by mixing the various 
ingredients together and sifting them 
The soil in the flats ought to be firmed down fairly well, using a short board to 
ensure an even surface 
(123) 
