Every Boy's Book: A Complete Encyclopædia of Sports and Amusements

by Unknown

DIBBER.

SOWING SEEDS.

The ground having been dug and raked, and otherwise prepared, is fit for the reception of the seed. Radishes, carrots, parsnips, are sown by the hand broadcast; the way of sowing carrot seed is to mix it with the earth in a large flower-pot, and then to scatter it very thinly over the bed: at least, that way is suited to the boy’s garden; in the open garden and the field they sow carrots and parsnips in drills. Peas are sown in drills about three inches deep and four feet apart. Broad beans are put in with a dibber in straight lines about five inches apart, the rows being four feet from each other. French beans are sown thinly in drills about four feet apart. Scarlet runners are put in by the dibber singly about three inches apart, and should have bean sticks placed near them as soon as they appear, upon which to climb. Cabbage-plants should be put in by the dibber about nine inches apart, in rows about four feet distant from each other. Cauliflowers should be planted eighteen inches apart either way, as should Scotch kale and sprouting brocoli. Spinach may be sown thinly in drills three feet apart, or broadcast in beds. Lettuce-seed, cabbage-seed, cauliflower-seed, and all kinds of flower-seeds should be first sown in warm situations in good mould very thinly, and then the plants should be transplanted as they grow of sufficient size. Potatoes should be planted with the dibber nine inches apart, in rows three feet apart, as should Jerusalem artichokes. Onions should be sown broadcast, in beds about six feet wide and fifteen or twenty long. The beds for parsnips and carrots may be six feet wide and thirty long.

TRANSPLANTING.

TROWEL.

This is a most important operation, and is indispensable in the art of gardening. A vast number of seeds must be sown in beds, and afterwards transplanted into their final situations; this is particularly the case with regard to flowers. The instrument with which transplanting is performed is called a trowel, of which there are both small and large. In using it the principal thing to be attended to, is to take the best and most vigorous of the plants raised in the seedbed, without injuring their roots, and with the earth around them, and placing them, with as little disturbance of their roots as possible, in their new situations. In transplanting shrubs, &c. from pots, the planter should very slightly break the earth round the roots of the plant, so that its fibres may have free play in the new earth. In transplanting shrubs, &c. particular care should be taken in digging them up, so that the young fibres of the roots are not injured. When shrubs, &c. are first transplanted, they should be moderately watered, and of course it is bad management to plant shrubs at a time when they are likely to suffer from sun. The right time to transplant is in the autumn and spring, when the ground is nice and dry, and “in good working order,” as gardeners term it.

WATERING.

Nature is the best waterer of plants, and it is good policy to leave the matter as much as possible in her hands; but we must assist her now and then by applying it ourselves. In watering, pond water is much better than pump water; and in warm weather, if no pond water can be procured, it is well to pump the water into some large tank or tub, and let it stand for some hours exposed to the sun and air before using it. Morning and evening are the proper times for watering; the middle of the day, or during a hot sunshine, is a very improper time for using the watering-pot in summer-time, although it is the best time for using it in the winter. In watering plants in flower-pots the finger should be first passed round the pot where the mould joins the sides of the pot, so as to close up the little crack or crevice between them, otherwise the water will pass down this crack, and go out at the hole at the bottom of the pot without affording it any benefit. In watering, never let the water pass from the watering-pot close to the stem, but rather turn up the earth in a little circular space for a few inches round the plant, so that the water may soak down to the extremities of the roots, where the spongelets are which draw up the nutriment from the earth to support the plant. When you water, water well and thoroughly, and then there will be little need to do it often. To water frequently, and give a little at a time, is very bad gardening.