Tumbledown Farm .9 Acres (give or take an acre or two)

Excerpt: The best success in growing plants from seeds depends in a large measure upon quick and per­fect germination, or "sprouting."

Seeds of plants are, primarily, germs, intended to produce young plants of the same genus. Be­sides the germ, the seed also consists of a packet of Baby Plant Food, containing exactly the elements necessary to furnish the nourishment needed to support the tiny plant until such time as will enable it to develop roots and leaves...

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Ever heard of the "sandwich system" of vegetable gardening? Neither had I until I stumbled across this latest acquisition to our library while reading Gene Logsdon's The Contrary Farmer's Invitation to Gardening. The preface to Albaugh's Home Gardening is worth reading for inspiration and the "sandwich system" is definitely something I will try in my garden this spring.

Perhaps best of all, Albaugh's experience and advice originate from central Ohio, which means they should be very directly applicable to Tumbledown Farm.

THE GARDENETTE
OR THE CITY BACK YARD GARDEN

THIS little volume is not designed as a guide to those who have large areas to cultivate, nor is it intended for the use of professional mar­ket gardeners, but it is arranged to meet the needs of the beginner, or amateur, and especially for those who have limited areas that are avail­ able for this purpose.

Few persons realize the possibilities of the small piece of ground represented by the back­ yard of the ordinary city lot-that part which is not occupied by buildings. Too often this part of the yard is made the depository of garbage and useless trash of all kinds.

Such accumulations are unsightly and unsani­tary. The Sandwich System herein described is not an idle theory but a successful, solid fact, the result of six years of careful, painstaking experi­ments, and highly successful efforts in practical vegetable growing.

This peculiar method was first suggested by noticing the marvelous growth of weeds, etc., about the base of an old, decaying strawheap, where some stable manure had been dumped on a thin layer of straw. On this more straw was scratched down by poultry. Lastly on top a few

13

14 THE GARDENETTE

wagon loads of street-scrapings, containing weed seeds, were dumped. The growth of these weeds was something wonderful. With this hint for a beginning, the marvelously successful Sandwich Bed was developed.

The surpassing vigor of growth, the earliness, large size, and superior quality of the products grown by this method, make gardening a very fascinating employment, for it cannot be denied that the ability to greatly surpass "The Other Fellow" gives especial gratification to those en­gaged in this line of work.

Where the space is limited, only a few articles should be attempted. It does not require a large area to grow a few fine tomatoes, muskmelons, cauliflower or egg plant. Or a bed of lettuce, spinach or green onions.

If only one square rod is available, it will pay to have a "gardenette."

SPACE REQUIRED

Three square rods or a space of ground, say eighteen by forty-five feet, can be made to pro­duce a large part of all the vegetables needed to supply the table of a family of five or six persons, throughout the season.

The author has repeatedly produced on such a plot, but containing four square rods, about the following:
30 Dozen Green Onions
1 Bushel Dry Onions
10 Messes Green Peas
15 Dozen Beets
22 Dozen Radishes
200 Heads Fine Celery
25 Choice Egg Plant Fruits
25 Extra Fine Squashes
50 Messes Lettuce
20 Messes Endive
10 Messes Kohl Rabi
8 Dozen Sugar Corn

VEGETABLE GARDENING 15

10 Messes Green Beans
25 Heads Finest Cauliflower
25 Heads Cabbage
20 Messes Spinach
10 Messes Chard
20 Messes Asparagus
10 Messes Salsify
10 Dozen Carrots
10 Dozen Parsnips
50 Fine Muskmelons
200 Pickling Cucumbers
10 Slicing Cucumbers
5 Bushels Tomatoes
2 Bushels Early Potatoes
8 Quarts Lima Beans
3 Bushels Turnips
3 Quarts Okra
3 Dozen Sweet Mangoes

At a low estimate these are worth $40. Often they would cost much more to buy. But it is not only the market value of the vegetables, but the freshness and fine quality that should be consid­ered. Green onions, radishes, green peas, beans, lettuce, spinach, and especially celery, rapidly lose their crisp freshness when gathered and ex­posed for sale a few days before they are used.

When grown in the home garden they come to the table with all their fine flavor unimpaired.

Then, for the business or professional man, who toils all day in office, bank, factory or shop, the change to the light physical labor in the open air and bright sunshine, gives just the needed change necessary for health of both body and mind. Such employment will be found restful and soothing to the overtaxed and wearied mind and nerves.

A love for digging in the soil seems inherent. Try it, and you will soon learn to look forward with pleasurable anticipations to the hour before breakfast, in the cool, dewy mornings, and the hour after supper, when the heat of the day is over, that you may spend in the light, delightful work of planting, hoeing and watering.

Watching the growth and development of the plants is a constant source of joy and delight.

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You forget the cares and worries, and gather new courage for the morrow.

Indeed, Amateur Gardening appeals to most of us in a way that is totally unlike any other em­ployment. The liking for the work seems intui­tive: perhaps because it brings us very close to nature; possibly because there seems in the hu­man mind a lingering memory of the Lost Eden. At any rate, this desire and taste for gardening is universal, and deserves to be encouraged, for it tends to tranquility of mind, and is conducive both to health and longevity.

SMALL DETAILS

The author assumes that the reader is without practical knowledge of gardening. Hence the care in preparing this guide in describing and explaining even the most trivial details of the work, for success often depends upon the small matters, which most authors ignore, forgetting that many successful business men have neither time nor opportunity to master the minor details of a profession which demands work to which most men are strangers. Then it may be that there are boys, ten to fifteen years old, who can be interested in this fascinating work during the summer's vacation. It is certainly an ideal oc­cupation for most boys, as it affords a method of outlet for surplus energy, while the sense of proprietorship, and the self-respect which al­ways accompanies successful, productive en­deavor, all aid in the formation of good, indus­trious habits and manly character. Give the boy


Celery and Blanching Tubes. Sandwich Beds.


Truck Patch, Willow Brook Farm

VEGETABLE GARDENING 17

a chance. It is far better than summer excur­sions to the country in doubtful company.

I would suggest that the family pay to the boy or girl a fair price for all the fresh vegetables used, as a just and reasonable recompense for the labor and care involved.

The family gets fresh vegetables at a fair price, and labor receives its just reward. Try it. En­courage the boys and girls in forming habits of industry,

THE SANDWICH SYSTEM

The method of growing vegetables of great earliness and superior quality, herein described, is new and entirely unique. By it, the products of the garden are always earlier, and at the same time of better quality than can possibly be pro­duced in any other way.

Why is this method superior to other meth­ods?

First--Finest vegetables can be grown on hard, stony, or alkaline soils, where ordinary cultiva­tion would be utterly fruitless. Even where "made" soils, consisting mainly of brickbats and old wall plaster, the Sandwich Beds flourish. A solid rock, a paved street, or the tops of flat roofed buildings could be made into successful gardens by this method.

For best results plants need aeration at the roots. If air cannot penetrate to the roots the plant languishes and dies from suffocation. When the surface of the ground is covered with water, the plant suffers in the same way and for

18 THE GARDENETTE

the same reason. The Sandwich Beds can neither be drowned or smothered. The air cir­culates through the several layers of material, and if too much water is applied, it readily passes through the fibrous beds and does no harm.

Second--Fertility is placed just where it can be easily absorbed and assimilated by the plants.

Third--The fibrous nature of the bed causes it to warm up earlier than does the natural soil.

Fourth-While hydrant water must be sup­plied as often as needed, in practice it is found that this form of bed does not require as much water as would be supposed, for the decaying mass of fibrous material retains moisture in a way that is surprising.

All kinds of vegetables and most of flowering plants do wonderfully well on Sandwich Beds. Celery, spinach,endive, chard, cabbage, cauli­flower, kohl-rabi, Brussels sprouts, etc., do excep­tionally well. For peas, radishes, carrots, sal­sify, parsnips, etc., where the soil is fairly good, it seems best to first spade the ground as de­scribed in "The Modified Sandwich Bed," mixing in manure, and after raking fine and level, cover surface with a couple of inches of compost. This latter method is better for those vegetables that have long, penetrating roots.

Directions for Making Sandwich Beds

First--Place a layer of straw or stable litter or leaves, about five inches deep. Tramp or pack pretty firm and smooth.

VEGETABLE GARDENING 19

Socond--Spread over this a layer about one inch deep of rich, fine stable manure.

Third--On this place another layer of stable lit­ter about two inches thick. Tramp or pack this down firm. Then turn on the hose, and give the mass a thorough soaking, but stop before leach­ing begins.

Fourth--spread evenly over the bed at least four inches of street scrapings, but avoid streets that have oil or asphalt in their make-up. If street scrapings cannot be readily obtained, use instead, a compost, of equal parts of fine river sand, rich garden soil and old, fine stable manure. Mix by shoveling over in a heap.

After all is in place, tramp till firm and it is ready to plant.

It has been found that autumn is the best time to prepare the Sandwich Beds. They will dry off and warm up very early in the spring. How­ever, a spring-made bed is just as successful if the directions are carefully followed.

The Modified Sandwich Bed

It sometimes happens that the real Sandwich Bed is not possible or practicable; in such cases, if the soil is reasonably fertile, and in good con­dition, the following method may be successfully adopted.

Procure one load of rich stable manure for each square rod of ground and have it dumped on or near where the beds are to be made. With a spading fork, beginning at one end of the bed, spade a furrow across the bed; fill this furrow

20 THE GARDENETTE

nearly full of manure, tramp down firm; then spade another furrow, throwing the dirt over the manure thus tramped into this first furrow. Fill the second furrow with manure as before, and again throw the dirt upon this from the next line of spading, thus alternately filling furrow and spading, proceed until the entire bed is spaded. If this bed is made in autumn, use more straw, leaves or litter mixed with the manure. Then cover the entire surface with street scrapings or compost, as before described, and rake smooth.

After the first year with the Sandwich Beds there will be an abundance of compost, as all the body of the bed will be turned into compost of the finest quality.

There should be a generous supply of this com­post on hand at all times, as it will be found very valuable for enriching flower beds, etc. It is also just what is needed for potting plants, and filling flats for starting early plants.

It usually happens that street scrapings can be had at a small cost if a convenient place for unloading is arranged, as it often saves a long haul to a public dump. And a modest tip to the driver will help. The real value of this material is not generally understood or appreciated.

TOOLS AND APPLIANCES

A steel garden rake, spading fork, small gar­den trowel, a long handled shovel, a manure fork, and a small hand sprayer are about all the tools that need be purchased.

The author uses a small hand sprayer which is cheap and very satisfactory. It has a quart

VEGETABLE GARDENING 21

Mason glass jar for a reservoir, and has the ad­vantage of blowing the spray at right angles from the barrel of the machine. With it the under side of leaves can be effectually reached, and this is often essential to success. The bar­rel should be of brass, as many spraying com­pounds are corrosive on iron. With this little machine, and a supply of Bordeaux Mixture, Hel­lebore, Tobacco Extract or Tea, Paris Green, Aphine, etc., the careful gardener is well forti­fied against attacks of insects and fungi. All these poisons should be supplied in advance, so as to be ready at a moment's notice, as delays are often costly. As some of the above articles are very poisonous, it is wise to keep them in a box, and under lock and key. The box should be large enough to contain all the needed poisons and the little sprayer. Directions for use will be found under appropriate heads.

In addition to the tools mentioned above, a "float" is very convenient. This is a board one­ half inch thick, four inches wide, and ten inches long. A piece of broom handle, eight inches long, is firmly nailed to the center of the board, using at least four long, slim nails. This implement is used to make the surface of the bed smooth, like­ wise for firming the soil after the seeds are cov­ered. The edge of the float may be used to mark off rows and for covering the seeds.

BOARD FRAMES

After the beds are made, the use of frames is desirable. These are made of common fencing boards, six inches wide. The frames should be

22 THE GARDENETTE

at least four in number, each twelve feet long and six feet wide. For convenience, these should be lightly nailed together, but not nailed so firmly as to prevent their being "knocked down" for winter storing.

Before planting, the frames are placed in cor­rect position on top of the beds. A board six inches wide and four feet long should be provided, on which to kneel while planting seeds or trans­planting small plants. In planting either seeds or transplanting small plants, begin at one end of the bed, and as planting proceeds, move back­wards until the bed is completed.

The beds may be of any suitable length, and may extend in any direction, but the width should be uniform, and should be constructed a foot wider than the frames. There should be a walk on both sides of the bed, at least two feet wide, for convenience in planting, watering, and gath­ering the crop.

MUSLIN SCREENS

For protecting early plants from frost, and for giving shade to newly set plants, a half dozen muslin screens should be provided.

These are made of inch slats, six and one-half feet long, and exactly three feet wide, with a cross slat in the middle. Cover the frame with muslin a yard wide, of a quality costing about six cents per yard. Begin at one end, using small tacks, stretching the muslin pretty tight. Do not cut in single lengths, but stretch the cloth over the end, and tack it on both sides. This gives a dead air space between the muslin covers. These

VEGETABLE GARDENING 23

screens are light, cheap, and are nearly, if not quite, as good as glazed sash, at less than one-fourth the cost, and no breakage of glass.

The screens are also useful in giving partial shade to such succulent plants as radishes, lettuce, endive and celery. By protecting these from the heat of the burning sun, greater crispness and brittleness is secured. Used in this way the frames should be supported on stakes two feet above the plants. If hard frosts threaten, first spread old newspapers over the tender plants, then place the screens on the board frames, and old rugs or carpets may be placed over all. In this way, early plants may be safely carried through pretty hard freezing without injury.

GROUP PLANTING

It does not seem desirable to have to be en­gaged in planting continuously. And it so hap­pens that there are a number of different kinds of plants that do equally well when planted at the same time, so these have been assembled into groups, and all the work necessary for each group may be done at the same time.

It will be noticed that in the "First Planting" there are peas, radishes, beets, lettuce, and on­ions. These are semi-hardy, and should be planted early. The plan given need not be rig idly followed, for no two families are exactly the same in their likings. Greater or less quantities of each may be planted, or such things as are not wanted may be omitted entirely. The plans are merely suggestive, and may be varied to suit the taste of the planter.

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The varieties, of course, may als6 be changed. Those named have been found satisfactory, but others may do equally well. These are given as an aid in selecting the seeds that will be needed. Order your seeds early, and buy only of reliable seedsmen.

If the available space is very limited, or if the planter has not time to grow plants that may be needed for transplanting, such as cabbage, to­mato, cauliflower, celery, egg plants, etc., it is usually cheaper to buy them of a reliable grower. In this case the plants should be ordered in ad­vance, to be delivered at the proper date, which the grower understands. When the plants are received, they should be set out promptly, select­ing the evening, if possible, for the work. By shading the plants for a few days after being set out, there will be few failures. When transplant­ing, dip the roots in a puddle made of clay and water, about the consistency of cream, and in set­ting, press the soil very firm around the roots.

After the plants are established, remove the screens, or the plants will blanch and become ten­der. Always order a few more plants than are needed to fill the space allotted. Set the surplus plants in rich soil: water and shade them. These can be used later to refill vacant places, for acci­dents, cut-worms and other enemies are pretty sure to destroy occasional plants, and vacant places in the garden are unsightly.

Plant Incubator, Out-of-Doors--Cover Removed.


Rockyford Cantaloupes at Willow Brook Farm.


VEGETABLE GARDENING 25

QUICK GERMINATION

The best success in growing plants from seeds depends in a large measure upon quick and per­fect germination, or "sprouting."

Seeds of plants are, primarily, germs, intended to produce young plants of the same genus. Be­sides the germ, the seed also consists of a packet of Baby Plant Food, containing exactly the elements necessary to furnish the nourishment needed to support the tiny plant until such time as will enable it to develop roots and leaves, so that it may be able to absorb and assimilate from the soil its own food, through natural means pro­vided for this purpose. If germination is de­layed or much retarded by unfavorable condi­tions, there is danger that this supply of food, contained in the seed, will be spoiled by fermen­tation or decay, and the helpless little plant will be starved. Even if the plant survives, it re­mains a stunted weakling that rarely ever recov­ers its normal vigor and vitality.

Who has not seen a corn field in exactly this condition, when germination has occupied two or three weeks? Nine times out of ten this spells crop failure. Try to secure quick germination: the quicker the better. The necessary conditions are fertility, warmth, moisture and aeration of the roots. In all these respects the Sandwich Beds supply ideal conditions.

Early in the season there is often a lack of sun­shine and warmth, and, therefore, there is more or less trouble with seeds rotting. Nearly all or this can be easily avoided by sprouting the seeds


26 THE GARDENETTE

before planting. If the seeds are really worthless, the fact is discovered in time to secure a fresh supply. Plants started by sprouting pos­sess more vigor, are more sturdy and thrifty, and will thrive and do well when poor, sickly plants would utterly fail. The author uses a home­ made machine for sprouting that does the work admirably.

THE PLANT INCUBATOR

This is especially useful when early plants can­not be easily obtained from regular growers, or when special varieties are wanted, and the plants must be grown at home.

The author usually has one to three of these machines in constant use from March to May, for in the latitude of central Ohio, frosts and cold nights make it difficult to grow good early plants.

With this machine, fine early plants may be had in abundance and great variety, at a small cost. With it in the South, plants may he grown all winter, and be ready to transplant at any time de­sired, regardless of "northers" or sudden cold snaps.

The machines are heated with common kerosene lamps at a cost, on an average, of two cents for each twenty-four hours. Usually very little fire will be needed,except during cloudy, cold and windy days, and chilly nights, and by simply lighting the lamps, the plants can be safely car­ried over spells of unfavorable weather.

The Plant Incubator consists of a cubical box, two feet each way, with a roomy door in one side. This box forms the lamp chamber. The top is


VEGETABLE GARDENING 27

open. A piece of sheet iron as wide as the in­side of the box and four inches longer, has two inches turned up at right angles at each end. This is tacked to the inside of the box so that it will be held in place, two inches below the top of the box. The sheet iron receives and distributes the heat from the lamp beneath. The lamp should be so placed that the top of the chimney is four inches below the sheet iron. Cleats are nailed on the outside of the box above the door, and on the outside opposite, to support the air chamber, which is made of two boards six feet long and six inches wide, boarded over the ends and bottom, except where it is slipped over the top of the lamp chamber. This should fit snugly so that there will be no waste of heat. It is best to line the entire inside of both the lamp chamber and the hot air chamber with cheap asbestos paper, pasting it on with common flour paste. A small hole must be provided near the bottom of the lamp chamber for ingress of fresh air, or the lamp will not burn well. Three" flats" or shal­low boxes, five inches deep, twenty-four inches wide and twenty-six inches long, will form the cover for the hot air chamber. Fill the flats with rich compost mixed with fine sand, and as soon as the soil becomes mildly warm, it is ready to receive the seed. The lamp heats the diaphragm of sheet iron, this in turn imparts its warmth to the hot air chamber and then heats the soil in the flats above. The flats should contain three inches of soil. In this the plants will thrive won­derfully.

Each fiat will grow 150 plants. After the


28 THE GARDENETTE

plants are about two inches high, the author usu­ally prepares three more flats which are placed next to the hot air chamber, and the ones con­taining the plants are placed on top of the new ones, thus one machine will heat six flats, which will grow 900 plants. During mild, sunny days, the upper flats are removed to a sheltered place through the day, and are returned to their posi­tion above the later plantings at night. A frame of twelve-inch boards fits outside the flats, and a cover of double muslin screens protects the plants during the night, or on cold, stormy days. The machine may be placed in a warm room by a win­dow, in an unused room, on a sheltered veranda, or, after cold weather is over, it may be placed in the garden, or out of doors anywhere.

The hot air chamber furnishes ideal conditions for sprouting seeds in effecting quick germina­tion.

SPROUTING SEEDS

Procure pieces of common burlap, each twelve by twenty-four inches. Pour the seeds on one end: fold the burlap from both sides: roll up and fasten with a pin. Prepare a label giving name, date, etc. Then into a pan containing half a pint of warm but not hot water, drop three or four drops of spirits of camphor. Now place the roll containing the seeds in this water for twenty min­utes. Press out lightly so there will be no drip­ping; wrap in four or five thicknesses of old newspaper, and place where the temperature is regular and about seventy-five degrees. The hot air chamber furnishes exactly these conditions.


VEGETABLE GARDENING 29

Examine the seeds daily, and if dry, water with lukewarm water. As soon as the germ shows, plant at once, or there is danger of losing the seed. With most of seeds there will be a gain of six to twelve days in time, and the seedlings will possess surpassing vigor. A fair trial will con­vince anyone of the great merits of this method.

TRANSPLANTING

Tomatoes, cabbage, egg plant, cauliflower, cel­ery and peppers are much more satisfactory if transplanted once or twice. They should be first transplanted when they have formed four leaves. Prepare a flat by filling in at least three inches of fine compost with enough soil to give it body. Pick out the plants and set pretty deep and firm in rows two inches apart, and two inches apart in the row. By using flats twenty-four by twen­ty-six inches, 150 plants will just fill a flat.

After planting, water well, and place in the Plant Incubator with flats sown with fresh seeds placed beneath them. This will usually make them warm enough for healthy growth. A small muslin screen for cover will help.

When the plants are four inches high, they should be again transplanted to small pots or old strawberry baskets, one plant to each, and set closely in flats which contain an inch of sand, or else if you have it, set them in a cold frame or pit. This, of course, is some trouble, but the greatly increased stockiness and sturdiness of the plants so secured will richly repay the extra labor. For extra early crops of tomatoes, egg plant, cauliflower and peppers, the plants may be


30 THE GARDENETTE

eight to twelve inches high when set out in the open ground. With some protection as given by the "boosters" plants will thrive and come to maturity greatly in advance of plants which have not been transplanted.

In transplanting to the open ground it is best to plant basket and all, after slightly crushing the bottom, just as the plant is placed in position. Give each plant a quart of water, and rake in some fine dirt to prevent the formation of a crust. Then by covering with a booster, the plant will start to grow at once. If the weather is very hot at the time of transplanting, turn the booster so that the glass will be on the north side. Two days later place the booster so that the glass faces the sun at ten o'clock, and ventilate by removing the cap during the heat of the day. In mild weather the cap may be left off altogether.

In the absence of boosters, a double thickness of newspaper, coiled in a conical shape and held in place by earth placed on the edges, will serve very well. The paper may be left on during cold, windy weather, but must not remain too long, or the plant will become blanched and weakened. The paper can be held in shape by using small nails as pins.

THE PLANT FORCER OR BOOSTER

With many kinds of vegetables, earliness is of prime importance. Extra early tomatoes usu­ally bring a much higher price than those that ripen a few days or a week later. The same is true of slicing cucumbers, sweet corn, muskmelons, etc.


VEGETABLE GARDENING 31

By use of the Plant Incubator and pots, paper bands or old strawberry baskets for indi­vidual plants, there can be a decided gain in the time required to get the plants ready for setting out in the open ground. But cold nights and cold winds, especially in cloudy weather, prevent anything like satisfactory growth after the plants are placed out of doors. The use of boosters at this time will be found a great help, as they pro­tect the tender plants from cold winds and even from frosts, as the soil around the roots of the plants within the booster is several degrees warmer than that outside. By raking up the soil around the booster, additional protection is given. If hard frosts threaten, cover the plant, booster and all, with double thickness of newspaper, held down by dirt, the top of the paper held tight to­gether with small nails or pins.

Protected in this manner, plants will not suffer even if the temperature goes down several degrees below freezing. Early sugar corn, tomatoes, cu­cumbers, muskmelons, very early cabbage and egg plant are greatly advanced by this means. Even Lima beans and watermelons may be advanced ten days by the use of the boosters.

The boosters are made of Flintkote or similar roofing. Two-ply will answer, though it will be found advantageous in the long run to use the heavier grade. This material does not warp or rot. It has stood the test for four seasons and looks as though it would last for four years more. When the season is over, the sheets may be un­hooked, spread out fiat, and stored in a small


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space. They are really needed for only a month or two, and should not be allowed to lie around in the way, all summer.

HOW TO MAKE THE PLANT BOOSTERS

Flintkote roofing comes in rolls or sheets thir­ty-six inches wide, and thirty-six feet long. This allows exactly four strips, nine inches wide, to be cut as shown in the drawing; The long edge or bottom of the booster is twenty-four inches, and the short edge is fourteen inches. By revers­ing each time, and cutting as shown, there will be little or no waste of material. A single sheet will make seventy-six boosters, caps and all, when the glass used are eight by ten inches. For larger plants, cut the roofing into three strips twelve inches wide, twenty-six and sixteen inches on either edge, and use glass ten by fourteen inches. For very large single plants, or for forc­ing rhubarb, asparagus, and large plants, the ma­terial may be cut eighteen inches wide, thirty and twenty inches long, and glass twelve by twenty should be used.

The caps are of same material, and are cut in the shape of a letter D, and should be one inch greater in diameter than the top of the booster. The sides of the cap are bent down so that they will readily slide between the wire handles. The hooks are made of No. 11 wire, and should be nearly an inch longer than the width of the pane of glass used, so that the glass may slide easily into position. A small wooden wedge pressed between the wire and the glass will hold them se­curely in place. The bail or handle is also made



Details of plant forcer or booster. (Hooks, Bail or Handle, Pattern for 8X10 Glass)


Plant Booster.


VEGETABLE GARDENING 33

of the same size wire, and serves to carry the booster from place to place, and hold the cap in position. It will be found convenient in punch­ing the holes for the handle and hooks, to first make a pattern and then, by placing a dozen or more sheets of the roofing in a pile, perforate the whole lot at one operation. This insures uniform­ity, which is important, as all the parts are then interchangeable.

The odor of the tar or asphalt which attaches to nearly all kinds of roofing, does not seem to be harmful to the plants.

USING THE BOOSTERS

Early cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce are nearly hardy, and need protection but for about two weeks. They should be "hardened" by leav­ing off the caps for a week; then the booster may be taken away and used on other plants, such as tomato and egg plants. But even with these ten­der plants they should not be left on too long. Usually the caps are first removed, and if the weather is suitable, the entire protection taken away before the plants become drawn.

For cucumbers, melons and squashes, the boosters furnish excellent protection against the striped beetle. By use of tobacco dust, and moth balls, it is easy to head off these destroyers, as the odors are more powerful and lasting inside the machine. To keep out the bugs when the caps are removed, substitute a cap made of fly-screen wire.

In using the booster, be sure to keep soil well raked up around the machine.