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Show .... . v tw&m GROWING EARLY PLANTS. How One Farmer Manages Hit Hot Bed Uses a Lamp. 14 grow earlyj)latits, toimtocs, poppers', pop-pers', cabbage, or anything on a small scale for family use, require as much time and attention as It grown In larger lar-ger quantities, ns u hotbed of soi.ie sort Is Indispensable. To reduco the expense and labor to the minimum, where a limited amount is required or the family garden, I have a plan that Is economical nnd has proved very satisfactory, explains a writer In the Indiana Farmer. I take an ordinary Btore box about two feet square and If not perfectly tight I line It with heavy paper, carpet lining It good. About six Inches below tho open top on tho lnsldo I nail strips on opposite sides. I then mako a box of a size to exactly fit Into tho larger box, resting on tho strips, and of u depth of two Inches. Into this shallow box tho soil It put In which tho seed Is sown. Tho bottom heat is from a lamp boncath tho seed box. It It Is desired a door may bo mado In tho sldo of tho box to facilitate filling and regulating the lamp". This, however, is not necessary, as the seed box may be lifted out and tho lamp reached. I sow tho seod about tho middle of 'March. I use a framo and glass to exactly fit tho box. This Is hinged at tho back to tho box nnd can bo ralsod to admit air. In this shallow box all the plants may be grown that any family will need. I)y the middle of April or in about a j month after sowing, tho plants will bo ready to transplant. Wo now take a larger box mado exactly as tho former, oxcopt that the strips upon which tho plant box rests must bo ten Inches below tho top, and Instead of tho shallow shal-low seed box, we lay boards across resting on the strips making a tight floor. Wo now get tin cans of a uniform uni-form size, corn cans aro about the right size. These can bo found usu nlly where they have been thrown away. Wo put them In a flro, when tho top and bottom will come oft. Thoy should co mo apart at tho sldo, but whore seamed together can be cut with a pair of shears. We' put about an Inch of soil In tho plant box. A string Is tied around tho cans to hold them together. Set them close together to-gether In tho box on tho soil, and fill. Tho Interstices between tho cans aro also filled with soil. WO plant a tomato toma-to or other plant In each can. It is now so late that glass covering may bo dispensed with and a cloth cover used. Wo mako our frame strips, ono by two inches, to exactly fit tho top of tho box, and stretch a couplo of Btrlhgs, or wire, across the frame, to support the cloth. On this frame we tack unbleached muslin and paint it with Unseed oil, In which a little resin has been dissolved by boiling. Tho temperature In tho air chamber below the plants should be about 80, but a' little variation from this will do no harm. Raising the box slightly at tho back will glvo slant to shed tho rain and to better catch tho sun's rays. Water and air are Indispensable and must bo left to tho Judgment of the operator. Wo cover tho box at night and on sovero days with an old carpet or horse blanket. In thlB box it will bo nocossary to havo a door at ono side, largo enough to admit a lamp. If well grown by the . mlddlo, of May the plants will bo large and stocky, wo havo had them in bloom. Wo usually pinch tho top of tomatoes, as this will causa thorn to throw out laterals and mako better plants. As soon ns tho ground Is warm and all danger of frost ts passed, tho plants should bo transplanted to the garden. Having tho ground propared, take a trowel or shlnglo and slip under each can, carefully placing them on a carrier car-rier and remove to the garden. Dig a holo of a depth to correspond with tho can, hold tho hand undor It to rotnln tho soil, draw tho earth around it, cut tho string, and lift the can off, and you will not disturb a root or check tho growth. If it, Is desired whero only a small numbor of plants aro wanted, tho seed box may bo converted con-verted into a plant box, and thus ob-viato ob-viato the necossity of a second box. All that is necessary is to lower tho strips, to give room for tho growth ot tho plants. In a box of two feet squaro you can placo C4 cans of three Inches diameter each. |