FIG. 16—TRANSPLANTING TOMATOES UNDER CLOTH-COVERED FRAMES
(Photo by Prof. W. G. Johnson)
Cloth covers are sometimes dressed with oil, but this is not to be recommended, though it is an advantage to have them wet occasionally with a weak solution of copper sulphate or with sea water as a preservative and to prevent mildew. Such covers, well cared for, may last five years or be of little use after the first, depending upon the care given them. They can be made from 50 to 200 feet long and two men can roll them up or down very quickly.
When cloth covers are used the supporting cross-strips should not be over 3 inches wide nor more than 3 feet apart; sometimes the strips are made to bind the sideboard and ridge together by means of short pieces of hoop iron or of barrel hoop. These are so placed and nailed as to hold the upper edge of sideboards and of the central ridge flush with the cross-strips, thus forming a smooth surface for cloth to rest on and enabling one easily to "knock down" and remove the frames to facilitate the taking of the plants from the bed to the field and the storing of the frames for another season.
Flats for starting seeds.—Any shallow box may be used or the plants sown directly in the beds without them, but flats of a uniform size are to be preferred—these will pack well on the greenhouse shelves; or in the hotbed we make them with 7/8 inch thick ends and ½ inch thick sides and bottom, the latter if of a single board having four half-inch holes for drainage and in any case having two narrow strips about ¼ inch thick nailed across their bottoms so as to allow drainage water to escape freely when the boxes are set on hard, cool floors. Two or three such boxes, 35½ inches long, 12 inches wide and 3 inches deep, will be sufficient to start plants enough for an acre. I like to use similar boxes only 4 inches deep for growing the plants after they are pricked out, particularly if this is to be done in a greenhouse, as by turning them we can equalize exposure to light and thus distribute the plants in the field where they are to be set with the least possible disturbance. One would need nearly 60 such boxes for plants enough for an acre. On account of the lessened necessity for watering when plants are set in beds rather than in boxes, many growers prefer to grow their plants in that way.
CHAPTER X
Starting Plants
This has been the subject of a vast amount of horticultural writing, and the practice of different growers, and in different sections, varies greatly. I give the methods I have used successfully, together with reasons for following them, but it may be well for the reader to modify them to suit his own conditions and requirements.
Largest yield.—Some 45 to 50 days before plants can be safely set in the open field the flats in which the seed is to be sown should be filled with light, rich, friable soil, it being important that its surface be made perfectly level, and that it be compact and quite moist, but not so wet as to pack under pressure. Sow the seed in drills 3/8 inch deep and 2 to 3 inches apart at the rate of 10 to 20 to the inch; press the soil evenly over them, water and place in the shade in an even temperature of 80 to 90° F. As soon as the seeds begin to break soil, which they should do in three to four days, place in full light and temperature of 75 to 80°, keeping the air rather close so as to avoid necessity of watering. After a few days reduce the temperature to about 65° and give as much air as possible. Some growers press a short piece of 2-inch joist into the soil of the benches, so as to form trenches 2 inches wide and about 3/8 inch deep, and so spaced as to be under the center of each row of glass, their sash being mostly made of five-inch glass. In this, by using a little tin box with holes in the top, like those of a pepper-box, they scatter seeds so that they will be nearly 1/8 to ¼ inch apart, over the bottom of the 2-inch wide trench, and then cover. This has the advantage of evenly spacing the plants and so locating the rows that the plants will be little liable to injury from drip.