Planting

“ I consider the best plan of planting is to throw two furrows together, and plant on this double thickness of surface soil; the roots will luxuriate in this bed of fertile soil and with proper care the tree will make a vigorous growth. ”

“ Closely associated with the making of the Lawn is the general arrangement of the planting. It is the common fault to scatter the planting. Much better effects are secured by massing or grouping the planting. See Borders and Flower Beds. Particularly along the boundaries and about the foundations of buildings, the shrubbery and other plants may be massed to excellent effect. In large places there should be more or less mass planting along the walks and drives. ”

“ The general idea is that all the soil shall be concealed, not necessarily at the moment of planting, but at the end of one or two seasons' growth. Unless you are a collector, variety is of little importance. The main thing is that there shall be beauty as a whole, a few marked seasonal effects of color with massed bloom and some green the year round; the garden must never be bare at any time, as nature will show you. Plants clustered here and [Pg 27] single there is a good planting rule. ”

“ Before planting out, the top soil of the ground prepared in autumn must be well worked and made friable. The disposition of the plants, and the method adopted for staking them, will, to a great extent, depend on the precise purpose for which the flowers are required. For garden decoration single rows answer well, and the plants should be spaced one foot apart. ”

“ It watches the planting, then sneaks in at night and digs up the trees. If seeds are put in, it digs them up and bites them in two, and if the trees should sprout it pulls the sprouts out of the ground and breaks them up and throws them away. ”

“ More earth is then shovelled in, and water applied again. This mode of planting has the great advantage of rendering the tree firm, without staking or treading the earth down round it, as is usually done. ”

“ In planting, a little extra care in the disposition of the roots in the soil will be well repaid, for plants merely thrust into the ground cannot develop that robust root growth on which the future of the crop largely depends. ”

“ Cultivation.—Soon after planting, and again just as the young plants are beginning to appear above ground, the field should be harrowed, inclining the teeth of the harrow backward. This is a cheap method of cultivation, since a wide space is covered. ”

“ This was a new sort of work, and even more fascinating than seed-planting. The tiny plants were fragile and had to be handled very carefully. Then a hole must be dug with a trowel, the plant set in, and the soil gently filled in about it. ”

“ Planting.—The most distinctive feature of the garden on the farm should be the reduction of hand labor to a minimum. In planting the garden, therefore, it should be laid out in long rows, sufficiently far apart to permit the use of a horse and cultivator in tending the crops. Time and confusion will also be saved if the vegetables are grouped according to their cultural requirements, and the number of plantings made as small as is consistent with the demands of the various crops. ”

“ But, Mary Frances, if you want a lovely garden, you must get the garden table ready for the plant roots in the most enticing way.
2. Next, take your rake and “comb” the earth to and fro until it is all light and feathery.
Of course, in large fields, this work of raking is done with a harrow.
3. After planting the seeds, pat the soil down firmly so that [81] it will be firm enough for the little rootlets to “get a hold,” yet will be movable so that they may grow.
To Plant Seeds in Boxes
Little seeds are not always started, or planted, out of doors. ”

“ The favorable effects of deep planting were especially marked on well-prepared, friable soil and in dry seasons. Very deep planting is open to objection because of the increased labor of harvesting and [101] the danger of a deficient stand when weather conditions are unfavorable. ”

“ This fascinatingly mysterious process of passing from seed to plant,—from passive to active life, we have watched with keen interest and growing pleasure, as from week to week, in the seed beds and nursery rows of our tree-garden, it has steadily progressed, under the varying conditions of sunshine and storm. Having reached a suitable size for transplanting, we have this morning commenced the actual work of tree planting, by carefully placing the young trees in the proper soil and location, where they may complete the sturdy growth they have so well begun. ”

“ The planting lines in the garden should be drawn and the holes for those plants which are to stand some distance apart—such as tomatoes, peppers and the like, should be already dug and, where extra fertilizing is called for, the hills enriched with a good spadeful of well decayed manure and the ground all ready for the plants. ”

“ Prepare a fine surface to plant on, and draw drills six inches apart and two inches deep, and place the tubers, claws downwards, in the drills, four inches apart, covering them with sifted soil before drawing the earth back to the drill. Rake the bed smooth, and the planting is completed. To keep free from weeds, and to give plentiful supplies of water in dry weather, are the two principal features of the summer cultivation. ”

“ After the crop has been taken, the ground should be treated as at first—thoroughly enriched and pulverized late in autumn, and left to lie in a rough state during the winter, then prepared for planting as early as possible. ”

“ Planting, if done at all, was done only with wildlings dug from the woods, and usually, following the practice of the planting of oak in pastures, with saplings: the plant material was too large for success. ”

“ Insert at least one stake, about a yard long, near each plant, to give support, and two or three others will have to be given before the branches spread far. Secure the first shoot when planting is completed, and follow up the tying as growth demands. ”

“ Always use a line in planting, and the spade, as without the former your rows will not be exactly straight or the same distance apart. Mulch the plants in, and press firmly about the roots—this is a most essential point, as unless firmly placed they are apt to be loosened by the least wind. ”

“ In planting out be sure to work the ground that is to receive the plants, and choose a cloudy day for transplanting, being careful when lifting not to break the roots which are long and large, take up as much earth as possible with them and make the holes to receive them large, roomy and deep, and be careful not to double in the roots. ”

“ This planting is carried on annually, and the oldest seedlings annually die; but when the pines are cleared off, the oaks, having got just the start they want, and now secured favorable conditions, immediately spring up to trees. ”

“ The planting is done by men and boys at a cost of something like a dollar an acre. The seeds soon sprout and the plants appear in ten or twelve days. They are thinned by hand and water is let in upon them, the farmers taking care not to give them too much. ”

“ For garden culture where hand cultivation is to be practised, the plants may be set in hills two or three feet apart each way, leaving room to cultivate between each way for the first few years. Two year old roots are the best to use and in planting a little mound of earth should be made in each hill, the roots of the plant spread out around this so that the earth will fit in beneath, close to the under side of the crown, then the earth should be firmed about the roots, a handful of bone meal sprinkled over the soil and the remainder of the soil filled in. ”

“ Shall we plant thick, as in a nursery, and then transplant, or shall we plant where they are to grow? In fruit-trees, the object is to get a low, full, and spreading top, of horizontal branches, that will bear much fruit. This is eminently promoted by transplanting, root-pruning, and heading-in. But in raising timber, the object is to get trees of long, straight bodies, with the fewest possible low branches. ”

“ The general characters of the commoner families of plants in cultivation. The origin of species.
Horticultural operations and practice.—Elements of [158] surveying and landscape gardening. Choice of site for garden. Description and use of implements under each head. Operations connected with the cultivation of the land, with explanations and illustrations of good and bad methods; digging and trenching; draining, hoeing, stirring the soil, and weeding; watering; preparation of seed beds; rolling and raking, sowing, transplanting and thinning; potting, planting ”

“ God had sifted three kingdoms to find the wheat for this planting,105
Then had sifted the wheat, as the living seed of a nation; ”

“ Let us fix our attention on a single plant. It has a certain amount of root pasturage and space in which to grow. Since it is not permitted to produce an indefinite number of young plants, it begins to develop itself. The soil is rich, the roots are busy, and there must be an outlet. The original plant cannot form others, and therefore begins to produce fruit-crowns for the coming year. All the sap, all the increasing power of root and foliage, are directed to preparation for fruit. ”

“ Some of the bulbs you have planted in autumn will be flowering; others will be pushing their way up towards the light; and your herbaceous plants—those that died down in the autumn—will be coming up again, and making delicious young green leaves. The part of your garden that you have saved for annuals must be carefully hoed and raked now, so that all the weeds are destroyed, and the soil made fine and powdery for your seedlings. Their little roots could not strike down and get any hold in hard, big lumps of earth, and it would be a waste of money and time to sow seed there. ”

“ While he, with infinite labor, prepares the ground and sows his seed with all care, praying that drouth may not wither nor floods drown it, and that frosts may not cut down the tender plants, the winds of heaven and the fowls of the air scatter broadcast the seeds of the noxious weeds, or these lie dormant in the ground awaiting opportunity. They germinate in sterile places, fence corners and nooks of the wayside, and flourish alike in scorching sunshine and in sodden soil. ”

“ When the plants are fairly started in their growth, the planter tops and primes them, processes performed, the first by pinching off the top bud, which would else run to seed, and the second by removing the lower leaves of each plant, leaving bare a space of some inches near the ground, and retaining from six to a dozen stout, well-formed leaves on each stem, according to the promise of the soil and season, and these leaves form the crop. ”

“ Everything depends on good plants and an early start in the spring, for we raise two crops the same season, and an early frost on our unripe seed is sure to ruin the crop. Now, to set the plants out and make them grow from the start, a line is stretched along one of these flat ridges, a boy goes along, and with a three-foot marker marks the spots for the plants; a man follows with a hoe and makes a hole, about the size of a quart dish, to receive each plant. ”

“ Passion Flower.—Cuttings of the young shoots strike readily in sand under glass. The plant likes a good loamy soil mixed with peat. A sheltered position with a south or south-western aspect should be assigned those grown out of doors, and the root should be well protected in winter. The flowers are borne on seasoned growth of the current year: this fact must be considered when pruning the plants. During the hot months the roots require a copious supply of water, and the foliage should be syringed freely. ”

“ We will suppose the work has been done in the spring, as early as the earth was dry enough to crumble freely, and that the surface of the bed is smooth, mellow, and ready for the plants. Stretch a garden line down the length of the plot two feet from the outer edge, and set the plants along the line one foot apart from each other. Let the roots be spread out, not buried in a mat, the earth pressed FIRMLY against them, and the crown of the plant be exactly even with the surface of the soil, which should also be pressed closely around it with the fingers. ”

“ Harvesting, and Preservation during Winter.—"Before frost sets in, they must be tied up in a conical form, as before directed; and all dead or yellow leaves must be taken off. [Pg 349] Then take them up with a ball of soil to each, and put them into light earth in a cellar or some warm building. Put only the roots into the earth. Do not suffer the plants to touch each other; and pour a little water round the roots after they are placed in the earth. ”

“ What a contrast to the average plant raised by the farmer—the seed often broadcasted, either in a hot bed or in a spot in the garden where the soil has not been specially prepared for plant raising, and when the plants, a large number of which are thin, pale green, and spindly looking, attain a height of anywhere from six inches to a foot they are all set out in the field and allowed to struggle along as best they can. ”

“ To have blooming plants by holidays they are propagated by seeds, sown in spring or summer in pans or pots of light, rich, sandy soil, and kept in a close frame or hand-light, where they can be shaded till germination takes place. ”

“ They never grow into branches, but detach themselves when full grown, fall to the ground, and take root there to form new plants.
Fig. 110. Bulblets in the axils of leaves of a Tiger Lily.
117. Consolidated Vegetation. An ordinary herb, shrub, or tree is evidently constructed on the plan developing an extensive surface. In fleshy rootstocks, tubers, corms, and bulbs, the more enduring portion of the plant is concentrated, and reduced for the time of struggle (as against drought, heat, or cold) to a small amount of exposed surface, and this mostly sheltered in the soil. ”