26 
House & Garden 
Complete in two reels — the The soil is put in and firmed Then the seed is scattered The measure comes in again 
story of starting seeds, begin - down with the bottom of a on the surface direct from the to press the seed lightly down 
ning with drainage glass tumbler or measure containing envelope into the soil surface 
GIVING the GARDEN 
a 
RUNNING START 
Vegetable Seed Planting Indoors so as to Produce Thrifty Crops Two Weeks 
in Advance of the Ordinary Season 
T HERE are three classes of gardeners: 
those content to follow the ordinary gar¬ 
den routine; those who like to watch and 
follow what they see their progressive neigh¬ 
bors doing; and those who are the most 
progressive neighbors. While it is not true 
that all garden enthusiasts are progressive, 
nevertheless all the progressive gardeners are 
enthusiasts, and they do not consider anything 
that will really make their gardens better too 
much trouble. 
Where you find the best gardeners you 
almost always find that they grow their own 
plants. It is extremely difficult to find first 
class vegetable plants in the open market, 
especially with the demand that there is going 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
to be for them this year. The gardener who 
wants to be sure of having a full supply of 
vegetable plants this spring will make prep¬ 
arations now for growing his own. 
The list of things which may be started 
at home is much larger than you can buy in 
the form of plants. It includes pole beans, 
beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, sweet corn, 
cucumbers, egg-plant, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, 
melons, okra, onions, peppers, pumpkins, ruta¬ 
bagas, squash and tomatoes. You may not 
want to attempt all of these things this year, 
but they can all be started with perfectly 
practical results. 
And then there is no comparison between 
home-grown plants, which have not been hur¬ 
ried and which have been given all the room 
they need, and those others, which are ready 
to wilt at a glance, that you usually find when 
you go looking for plants to buy. Even with 
the things which are ordinarily grown—cab¬ 
bage, tomatoes, cauliflower, lettuce, pepper, 
egg-plants—-home-grown plants, large and 
sturdy, transplanted directly from your frames 
or flats to the garden, will mature from one 
to two weeks earlier than those you ordi¬ 
narily buy. 
Earliness, however, is not the only advan¬ 
tage. Equally important is the matter of 
gaining time in starting seeds for the second 
crop on the same ground, so that they will 
(Continued on page 60) 
Fine soil is then sifted on top 
so as to cover the seed com¬ 
pletely from sight 
Watering with a clean spray 
gun follows, the fine spray not 
disturbing the soil 
When the seedlings reach 
transplanting size they are 
moved with a flat stick 
The first transplanting is into 
a flat which holds them 
while hardening-off 
