=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 1/2 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 1/4 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, 35-1/2 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.