CHAPTER IV TRANSPLANTING

Transplanting is one test of a good gardener, another is the care of the plants after they are gotten into the ground—the careful cultivation¹ that forbids a weed to show its head above ground, or a crust to form on the soil after a rain; these two successful operations spell success in the garden—their absence failure.

For several days before the young plants in the hotbed are to be put into the ground they should be hardened by leaving the sash entirely² off and by occasionally withholding³ water that they may be accustomed to the irregular water supply of the open ground, but the beds should be well watered the night before transplanting that the plants may absorb enough moisture to carry them through the ordeal⁴ of transplanting and that the soil may have sufficient moisture to adhere to the roots.

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The planting lines in the garden should be drawn⁵ 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 fertilizing⁶ is called for, the hills enriched with a good spadeful of well decayed manure⁷ and the ground all ready for the plants. In this way transplanting will go forward with the least possible delay and the plants will suffer little, if any, from the change.

It is not at all necessary to wait for a rainy spell as so many think desirable; the most successful planting can be done on a clear, bright day if the work is handled properly; indeed this is just the weather that gives best results, a period of rainy weather with cloudy intervals⁸ between is also favorable except for the discomfort⁹ of working in the wet but when planting time comes one must not think too much of one's personal comfort,—it is up to one to get things into the ground and growing; we can be comfortable later on when there is time for it.

A rainy spell, broken by hot, sunshiny, muggy50 days is of all times the worst for transplanting; plants wilt¹⁰ and die in spite of one, fairly cooked by the hot steam engendered¹¹ by the rain and sunshine, and such planting weather should be avoided unless the season is late and the planting urgent. Only as many plants should be lifted at one time as can be put into the ground before they wilt. Do not try to lift plants separately but lift them in clumps¹², pressing the trowel well down below the roots and lifting the plants with as little disturbance¹³ as possible—never pull up the plants by the tops as one sometimes sees done; this strips off the tender, fibrous roots on which the plant depends for gathering¹⁴ its food. The tap root which remains¹⁵ has little foraging¹⁶ value, it serves, principally, to hold the plant in the ground while the fine, lateral¹⁷ roots are busy collecting food to feed the growing top; if these little feeding roots are destroyed the plant must make a new supply before top growth can be resumed.

Do not attempt to separate the plants at once but carefully release each plant as it is required;51 in this way they retain their freshness and loss from wilting¹⁸ is minimized.

Make a hole large and deep enough for the roots, setting them deeper than they were in the hotbed, and fill in part of the earth, pressing it down firmly, fill in the hole with water and when it has seeped¹⁹ away fill in the remainder of the earth, leaving it dry, fine and smooth about the plant. Each of these three operations may be completed for the entire row of plants before going on to the next: the plants set in the hole and the first earth drawn up, then all the holes filled with water and by the time the last hole is filled the first will be ready for final filling in with earth. This is a more efficient method than to complete one hole at a time and keeps the plants in better shape.

When the whole planting of one variety of vegetable is completed go over them carefully, noting any wet spots that may appear on the surface and cover them with more dry earth. Remember that it is upon the integrity of the dry mulch that the success of the planting depends.52 Do not try to protect the plants in any way; if sufficient water has been placed in the hole, the earth firmed sufficiently²⁰ and an efficient dry mulch provided the plant will be much better off than if protected in any way. Do not water after transplanting until the plants have become established and need it. If for any cause some of the plants show signs of wilting while the dust-mulch is still perfect a hole should be made at one side of the plant and water poured in, recovering the spot with dry earth. If it rains immediately after planting, clearing off with fair weather, the beds must be gone over with the scuffle-hoe to replace the dust-mulch as soon as it can be worked to advantage. One has only to bear in mind that the secret of successful planting is moisture at the roots and dry earth above to succeed.

1 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

4 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 fertilizing   

v.施肥( fertilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Sometimes the preliminary step must be taken of reducing weed population before fertilizing. 有时候，在施肥之前，必须采取减少杂草密度的预备性步骤。 来自辞典例句
• The self fertilizing garden can also be planted in raised beds. 自我施肥的菜园也可以在苗圃床中种植。 来自互联网

7 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

8 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

9 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

10 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

11 engendered   

v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The issue engendered controversy. 这个问题引起了争论。
• The meeting engendered several quarrels. 这次会议发生了几次争吵。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 clumps   

n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了，剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

14 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

17 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

18 wilting   

萎蔫

参考例句：

• The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
• The petunias were already wilting in the hot sun. 在烈日下矮牵牛花已经开始枯萎了。

19 seeped   

v.（液体）渗( seep的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• The rain seeped through the roof. 雨水透过房顶渗透。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Icy air seeped in through the paper and the room became cold. 寒气透过了糊窗纸。屋里骤然冷起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

20 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。