ts are young and
small, though many successful growers wait until they are larger. The
soil in which they are set, whether it be in boxes or beds, should be
composed of about three parts garden loam, two parts well-rotted stable
manure and one part of an equal mixture of sand and leaf mold, though
the proportion of sand used should be increased if the garden loam is
clayey. The soil in the seed-boxes or in the beds, when the seedlings
are taken up, should be in such condition, and the plants be handled in
such a way that nearly all the roots, carrying with them many particles
of soil, are saved. The plants should be set a little, and but a little,
deeper than they stood in the seed-box and the soil so pressed about
the roots, particularly at their lower end, that the plants can not be
easily pulled out.

[Illustration: FIG. 17--SPOTTING-BOARD FOR USE IN COLD-FRAMES]

Where plants are set in beds the work can be facilitated by the use of a
"spotting-board" (Fig. 17). This should be about 1 foot in width, and
have pegs about 3 inches long, 3/4 inch in diameter at the base and
tapering to a point, fastened into the board the distance apart the
plants are to be set. It should also have narrow projections carrying a
single peg nailed to the top of board at each end, so that when these
pegs are placed in the end holes of the last row the first row of pegs
in the "spotting board" will be the right distance from the last row of
holes or plants. By standing on this, while setting plants in one set of
holes, holes for another set are formed. If the conditions of soil, air
and plants are right and the work is well done, the plants will show
little tendency to wilt, and it is better to prevent their doing so by
shading, rather than by watering, though the latter should be resorted
to if necessary. When plants are set in beds, some growers remove the
soil to a depth of about 6 inches and put in a layer of about 2 inches
of sifted coal ashes, made perfectly level, and then replace the soil.
This confines the roots to the surface and enables one to secure nearly
all of them when transplanting. The plants should be well established
in 24 hours and after this the more light and air that can be given,
without the temperature falling below 40 deg. F. or subjecting the plants to
cold, dry wind, the better.

[Illustration: FIG. 18--SPOTTING-BOARD FOR USE ON FLAT (From W. G.
Johnson)]

One can hardly overstate the importance to the healt