s the one
o'clock sun. He says that only for a short time will trees thus set have
an awkward appearance.
The most convenient boxes in which to start seeds and cuttings are those
known as "flats" among gardeners. A good size for the kitchen garden in
which to start tomato seeds, etc., or for the ordinary conservatory, is
two feet long, sixteen inches wide, and three inches deep. These shallow
boxes are easy to handle, take up little room, and allow of much better
drainage to the young plants. Salt or soap boxes can be easily cut up
into three or four boxes three inches deep. Neat leather handles on each
end of the box will increase its handiness. The bottom is better if made
of several pieces of board, as the cracks insure good drainage.
James Vick's plan of catching slugs is as follows: "Take some pieces of
slate, or flat stones, or flat pieces of tin, and lay them about in the
garden among the plants, distributing them very liberally; just at
sundown go out and place a teaspoonful of bran on each piece of slate or
tin, and the slugs will soon become aware of it, and begin to gather and
feed on it. In about two hours, when it is dark, go out again with a
lantern and a pail containing salt and water, and pick up each piece on
which the slugs are found feeding, and throw slugs and bran into the
brine, where they instantly die. It is well, also, to go around in the
morning, and many slugs will be found hiding under the pieces of slate,
and can be destroyed in the brine. By following up this method
persistently for a few weeks the garden may be effectually rid of the
nuisance."
A correspondent of the Iowa Register advises us as to the proper manner
of performing this operation: "To heel trees in properly, a trench
should be dug on high, dry ground from two and a half to three feet
deep; one side of which should slope from the bottom at an angle of 35
to 45 degrees. The trees should then be set against the sloping side of
the trench and sufficiently apart to allow of fine earth being brought
in close contact with every part of every root. When the roots and
bodies of the trees are carefully covered, the trench should not only be
filled but rounded up so as to form a mound over them. When air spaces
are left among the roots they are liable to mould and rot. And very
frequently, when they have not been buried sufficiently deep, the
outside bark becomes detached from them and will slip off when they are
being taken from
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