. Fruits, vegetables and flowers, a non-technical manual for their culture. Starting Early Plants.—Soil to be used for starting early plants shouldbe fine, free from stones and sticks and fairly rich. For cabbage or cauli-flower, it should be taken from land that has not grown either those orother members of the cabbage family for seven or eight years in order to 22 SUCCESSFUL FARMING avoid clubroot. The soil should also contain considerable humus, and somesand is a great advantage. If composted, two parts of loam, one part ofrotten manure and one part of sand will give good results. It is alw
. Fruits, vegetables and flowers, a non-technical manual for their culture. Starting Early Plants.—Soil to be used for starting early plants shouldbe fine, free from stones and sticks and fairly rich. For cabbage or cauli-flower, it should be taken from land that has not grown either those orother members of the cabbage family for seven or eight years in order to 22 SUCCESSFUL FARMING avoid clubroot. The soil should also contain considerable humus, and somesand is a great advantage. If composted, two parts of loam, one part ofrotten manure and one part of sand will give good results. It is alwaysdesirable to prepare and store the soil in the fall, so that it will be ready foruse when wanted in February or March. Flats or shallow plant boxes are a great convenience in starting earlyplants. They may be made of new lumber or of empty store boxes. Chest-nut and cedar are very durable woods for this purpose. The thin pineboards of boot and shoe boxes are easily made over. A common plan is torip soap and tomato boxes into sections, using any kind of thin lumber. One of the Many Good Types of Seed Drills.^ for the bottom of the fiats. Plant boxes need not have a depth of morethan two inches, though deeper boxes require less attention in wateringbecause they hold more soil, and, consequently, more water. Seed sowing with such crops as cabbage and lettuce usually beginsabout the first of February in northern districts and earlier in the the seed may be sown broadcast in fiats or beds, the better plan isto sow in rows about two inches apart. This is ample space for all of thevegetables which are ordinarily started under glass. If ten to twelve goodseeds are dropped to each inch of furrow, there should be a satisfactorystand of plants. The furrows should be about one-quarter inch deep for 1 Courtesy of New York State College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y. From Cornell Reading Courses,VoL III. PRINCIPLES OF GARDENING 23 seeds sown under glass, with the exception of
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